Flying with Broken Wings
by SpaceWyvern
Summary: The Airbenders are somehow returning, but they aren't coming back alone. Something else is coming, too. These Airbenders need to learn to fly on broken wings. Rated for violence and language, especially in future updates. Tweeking between major additions.
1. Preface

So, thanks to my sister (and partial thanks to my sudden amount of free time during the day) I've sort of gotten into the Avatar series. That, with the need for me to write about SOMETHING, gave me the idea to try my hand at writing a fan fiction for it. If I like it and am really into it, I might write several. It all depends on how much time I have.

Like I said in the short summary, there might be a slash. It really depends on how I get it to play out and what reactions I get from you readers. If I test the water and you all like the idea, I'll go along with it. If you don't like the idea… I might go along with it anyway, but have them butting heads the whole way. It all depends.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of **_Circe (AKA Jord)_**.

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Airbenders are surfacing all over the place, in the most unusual places. Aang and his friends are trying to find them all, in hopes that they can rebuild the Air Nomads, even while the Fire Nation is struggling to get back to it's feet. Using the Southern Air Temple as their home base, the emerging Airbenders are given a place to live and learn in what they hope is peace and safety.

One of the new Airbenders really stands out. Her power is extremely strong, seemingly unlimited and uncontrollable, and it terrifies her. Raised by a family of Earthbenders, her world is turned upside-down and inside-out when Aang and his friends convince her family to let them take her. She is confused and angry, and doesn't know what to do or who to trust.

Two new types of Nations, and their Benders, are also appearing; their power is strange and terrifying. Now Aang, his friends, and the new Airbender are forced to fight one of these new nations while they keep searching for other Airbenders. War is threatening to break out in a world that has yet to recover from the Fire Nation's war, and their only hope may lie in the second of the two new nations.

With war, emotions, and the classical Earthbender bull-headedness on the rise, will Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph be able to rebuild the Air Nation AND keep the world out of a second war? What about the new uber-Airbender raised by a poor family of Earthbenders? Will her limit ever be found, and will she ever really find a place to belong?


	2. Just the Beginning

My first real chapter. Enjoy and leave reviews please, so I know how I'm doing.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_ and _**Nasu**_.

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She remembered a time when she and her family didn't live inside the suffocating walls of Iso Han, a city practically right next to the Divide. It was faint, but she could remember it, especially in her dreams. Before the Fire Nation came to her family's farm and destroyed it, they lived in relative peace, only having to worry about the rare raids from bandits and other scum who tried to take advantage of the war. And when her father came back from the war, they were all happy again, happy to be alive and happy to be together, even if he came back crippled. He did his best to work around the farm and she worked to do what he could not, and everything was right in the world. She knew she was adopted, but that didn't matter to her. She had two parents that loved her, a peaceful and happy life, and that was all she needed.

But they were like so many other unlucky families. The Fire Nation came to their farm, and for whatever reasoning they used, they burned the farm and pillaged what valuable things they could find. Her family was lucky to get away with their lives. Her parent's Earthbending abilities stopped any of the few that came after them, and they reached Iso Han and the safety that resided within the walls. Because they had very little money, they were forced to find a place to live in the poorer section of the city. It took them a while to get a good foothold, but once word got out that her mother made good clothes and her father made good jewelry, business was plenty.

Even she managed to benefit from the war. As she became skilled in combat, this reached the ears of generals and commanders in the local area and she was asked to help teach new recruits how to fight. Because of the number of people she would have to help teach, they had to move it outside of the city to give everyone enough space to practice safely. Even though she would be gone for long periods of time, neither she nor her family ever had to truly worry about one another. They made a living with their crafts, and she contributed with hers. Everything was right with the world once again, and though the tax collectors were strict, they did not have to worry about money. They had few needs and were humble, and what money they did save they hoped to give to her and her siblings so that they could get an "education", since they were never able to afford it for them. Any teaching she did receive was from her parents, and as far as she was concerned, that was all she needed.

And finally, the Avatar restored peace and balance and the war was over. Her parents could still support the family, but to her, she felt as though her usefulness had expired. With no war, there was no demand for combat teachers, and because she grew up in the war, combat was all she knew. All she had now was free time, too much of it, and she spent a majority of it trying to meditate or trying to think. That was what she did these days… since the end of the war, she had done nothing for the past six years _but_ meditate and think.

"Circe! Young lady, come out here this instant!" A stern, irritated voice could be heard yelling from beyond the front door, likely from the middle of the dirt road.

Jord sighed. Circe was her birth name, according to her parents. Most people just called her Jord, but she couldn't get her parents to call her that to save her life. She new it was her mother yelling for her… and her tone said she was in quite a bit of trouble. It was sad, really, being called "young lady" at the age of twenty three. But, having no place to go, she really didn't have much of a choice but to stay with her parents. Besides, she loved her family; they were all she really had. It didn't bother her to stay with them.

It did bother her, though, to have her mother yell like that from the middle of the road. She knew she wasn't the only person to have heard it. Sighing a second time, Jord rolled off her hammock and landed on her feet. She figured she might as well get it over with, since she obviously wasn't going to be doing any more thinking.

Jord also knew why she was being yelled at from the road.

Too bad she didn't know that the time for thought was just about over.

"Do you really think there are other Airbenders out there, Aang?"

"Yeah… I can feel it. In my stomach. I don't know how or why, but I can, and I have to find them."

Katara frowned. During the six years following the end of the war, while she and Sokka and Toph traveled between the different nations with Aang to mend relations and keep the peace, she had become a Master Waterbender and a sort of advisor on their little team. And during those six years, they had seen neither hide nor hair to hint at even the slightest possible chance that there were any surviving Airbenders besides Aang. And then, all of a sudden, Aang started getting strange feelings, and just as suddenly people were sending them reports of all these strange… events that were happening. Half of the news didn't strike her as being related to the lost Air Nomads, but for some reason Aang felt obligated to answer every single report. He was always disappointed in the end, though, and it was starting to wear on all of them. Even Toph was snarkier than usual, and that was saying quite a bit, since she had mellowed out just a tad (though at eighteen, she still had an attitude). "Well… I don't think we'll be finding them any quicker if we keep answering these pointless letters…" Katara dropped the scroll she had in her hand, not even half way through it. "If there are any other Airbenders out there… maybe we need to approach this from a different angle."

"How?" Aang sat up a little straighter, putting down his own scroll.

"Well, instead of investigating each and every one of these letters, and wasting valuable time, why not start our own search? We can do this while traveling, since we seem to be doing a lot of that lately."

Aang looked thoughtful. "Yeah… we do travel a lot. I guess we could work on our own search while we do all that diplomatic stuff…" He wrinkled his nose at that. "I just don't want to overdo it, you know? I know everyone's strained."

"We are, but we also know how important it is. And no matter what Toph says, you know she doesn't really mind it that much. And of course Sokka always needs something new to do…"

The young Airbender laughed. "Yeah… so if that's what we're going to do, where do we start?"

"How about Omashu?" A voice said from the door. Both Benders turned around to see the third Bender of their group, the blind Earthbender Toph. Her cloudy pale green eyes stared in their general direction blankly, unseeing, but they knew better than to assume she didn't know where they or the things around them were. Toph could pinpoint their exact locations by the tiny vibrations that traveled through the ground, that only she could detect. "We just got another one of those stupid messages. Sokka said that it's about some old guy who swears he saw some kid using Airbending… same stuff we've been getting all week. Personally, I think they've all started drinking cactus juice or something."

Another thoughtful look crossed Aang's face. Toph couldn't see it, but Katara could. "Let's go there. Bumi can tell us if there's anything actually happening. Besides, I haven't seen him for a while. He sent me a letter last week, actually, something about Flopsie catching a cold… where did I put that?"

Katara groaned inwardly.

"You started a fight? Again?! Circe, we can't keep doing this!"

Jord sighed. She barely had her foot out the door before her mother lit into her. "I didn't start it. I only finished it. That pompous ass of a hog-monkey had it coming."

"That doesn't mean you had to do what you did! And watch that tongue of yours." Her mother sighed. Nasu was a patient woman, but her daughter's hot head was going to cost them all one of these days.

According to the scowling stick of a man behind her, Jord and the man's son had gotten into a fight down at the market. From what the man said, Jord had swung first… and it was entirely likely that she had. Only she never made the first move unless she really had to. Something in her nature usually convinced her to react, never to start. But nevertheless, the young man had been sent to the closest healers, and according to his father he was still confined to bed.

Nasu didn't like the man. She didn't even trust him. But in front of the neighbors, it was her job as a parent to address the situation, and that was exactly what she was doing. "Circe, I think you need to apologize, if only to settle this."

"No."

The woman blinked. That was the most stubborn "no" she had ever heard coming out of her daughter's mouth. It wasn't a no that meant she didn't want to apologize, or was too ashamed to, but a no that made Nasu feel her daughter truly believed what she did was right, and therefore she had no reason to apologize. "No?"

"No. I stood by far too long while that two-faced backstabbing son of a canyon-crawler harassed those people. They have less than we do, even less than him! What gives that piece of scum any right-" Jord's voice was rising in volume. Nasu took a shallow breath, knowing exactly what was about to happen.

The man behind her practically exploded with rage. "My son did nothing wrong! He was minding his own business when those paupers accosted him! You watch your mouth, you filthy animal, or I'll have you thrown in a cage where you belong!"

Nasu slammed her right foot down on the dirt road and ripped out a couple of large chunks of earth. One of the chunks clipped the man on the arm dangerously, and that was only the warning. The woman drew her hand back calmly, as if preparing to launch the dirt and rocks at the man. "I don't care if your son _and_ my daughter were both in the wrong, I will not allow you to speak to my family like that." Her eerily calm voice sent an obvious shiver up the suddenly meek man's spine. "Now go back home to your son, or I will send you home in one of my pots. You will take care of yours, I will take care of mine, and it will be settled. Understood?"

The man merely squeaked out a barely audible response before nodding.

"Good, now leave." Nasu calmly put the sections of earth back in their spots, firmly packing them down and making it look like nothing had ever been disturbed. As the man quietly slunk away, she turned to Jord. "And you, inside. We'll all be talking when your father gets home. I don't want to hear a word out of you until then. Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Jord muttered darkly, glaring after the man.


	3. Plans and Dreams

Oh yeah, Jord's in trouble. Time to face the parentals.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_,_**Nasu, **_and _**Ronyn**_.

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"Circe!"

Jord sighed. She was laying in her hammock, slicing little chunks off an apple with a small dagger and flicking them at the cat owl that was perched on her feet. She had bought the animal as a baby about a year ago, when she had to make a delivery all the way in Ba Sing Se. The rebuilt city had recovered wonderfully from the war and was thriving once again, and her mother had been asked to fashion a something-or-other for a lady that lived there. So, naturally, Jord was the deliverer, and her ostrich-horse Hoz was her ride. When she came back, she not only had the payment for her mother, but a new animal companion for herself as well, which she lovingly called Zin. And while primarily a carnivore, Zin did have a strange liking for apples.

"CIRCE!"

"I'm coming!" Jord twitched her foot, causing Zin to hiss and flap his wings, flying over to his actual perch next to the window. Jord got to her feet, muttering and running a hand through her short blonde hair, only making it stick up even more. She tossed the apple at the cat-owl as she left the room. Zin opened his mouth and caught the half-eaten piece of fruit, purring happily as he gnawed on it.

Jord entered the living area to see her mother and father, Ronyn, seated, both apparently waiting for her. Nasu pointed at the remaining chair, which had been conveniently placed in a corner. Her voice was stern. "Sit. Now."

Keeping her protest to herself, Jord scooted past them and dropped down into the chair. Crossing her arms stubbornly, she turned and stared out the window nearby, waiting for one of them to say something. When neither spoke, she broke the silence. "I'm still not apologizing."

"We aren't asking for you to apologize." Ronyn said. He was a giant of a man, at least compared to the much smaller and thinner Nasu. He had a mane of thick black hair that he usually tied back. His remaining eye was a fierce green color; the hole where the other used to be was covered by a brown leather patch. His right leg was also obviously lame, as the bones had somehow been fused together after a terrible wound he got in the war. Ronyn wasn't very fast anymore, and he was restricted to hobbling around with a thick wooden crutch. He was pouring three cups of tea while he was talking. "We want to hear your side of the story." He held out a cup to Jord, whose blue eyes studied it for a moment before accepting it. Nasu picked up her own. "Now, what happened yesterday?"

Jord sighed, staring at the liquid in her cup.

FLASHBACK

The summer heat baked the hard earth under her feet; she could feel it through her boots. Wearing the boots was what set her apart from the other Earth Kingdom citizens, because for some reason there were times she could barely stand walking around without shoes. Sometimes her tolerance came and went… sometimes she went without shoes, and other times she didn't. On days like this, where the earth would feel even a little warm to an Earthbender with only the basic skills, she never thought twice about wearing the boots.

This particular day, she was in Iso Han's marketplace, leading Hoz around by the bridle. Iso Han had a mixed system of currency and bartering. Usually merchants and customers would barter, and when they finally decided on which item had what value, the difference would be paid with coins. Sometimes, coins never came into the picture at all. Jord was particularly skilled in market-speech, and the quality of the items her parents created made the job that much easier. She was usually able to bring back extra money, especially on a day when the market was this packed.

Half of the deliveries had been taken care of, and all she had left to do was trade some clothing to one merchant in exchange for meat, some jewelry to another in exchange for precious metals for her father to work with, and finally purchase some supplies for the month. But in the heat of mid day, even she had to stop to rest. One of the city's taverns was right in the middle of the market place, and she and the owner were on a first name basis. It was a good place to stop for a break, with an overhang to shelter animals and people from the sun's rays. Most people would go inside and leave their mounts outside, but Jord had a strong connection with her animals. Perhaps that was what kept her outside, or maybe it was something that was tugging at the back of her head. But in either case, she was only inside long enough to get something to eat and drink for herself and her ostrich-horse.

Jord sat on a large barrel right next to Hoz, the two of them watching the people wandering around and interacting with each other out in the sun, buying and selling and bartering in the sun. "Ugh, and I thought I had a high tolerance for heat…" Jord grumbled through a mouthful of whatever she was eating for her lunch. If there was one thing she had learned over the years, it was to never ask what was in the special at the tavern. It tasted good, it never made her feel sick, and it really stuck to her ribs. To her, that was all she had to know.

Hoz snorted and clicked his beak a couple times.

"Yeah, that's what I think too."

The two continued to sit and watch, more bored and impatient to get going again than anything else. Jord's mind started to wander, and if Hoz hadn't grunted and shifted uneasily she might not have even seen it. A young man, dressed in course green and brown garb, and a couple of old frail beggars with an infant were conversing loudly. Too loudly. The young man's clothing placed him in the same category Jord and her family were in; not quite poor, but not among the well off. She didn't know what his family did to support themselves, as she had never seen them at the market selling wares, nor did they own a store. Yet the guy strutted around like a rooster, as if he was a noble and he owned the place.

The man kicked some dirt at the beggars. Hoz growled, and Jord put a hand on his neck to calm him down. "You're right, someone needs to stop this." She put down her plate and glass, tapping him on the beak when he tried to sneak a bite of her food, and hopped off the barrel she was sitting on. She never carried any of her weapons with her, now that the war was over. Some people did it out of habit, though, even six years after it had ended. Sure, she still carried a small knife on her belt, but it was more for convenience's sake. And sometimes, she just wanted to whittle.

Jord reached the scene just as the man kicked some more dirt at the people huddled in the sparse shade. "Hey! What's going on here?" Jord quickly stepped between him and the beggars, shifting her feet, almost unconsciously moving into a sturdier stance.

"Absolutely nothing." The man said in a charming voice. His innocent smile made Jord want to gag. He extended his hand in what appeared to be a friendly gesture. "Name's Xahn."

Jord eyed him cynically, keeping her hands at her side. "I'm not interested in your name, much less making new acquaintances. Now tell me, what did you think you were doing?"

Xahn's smile lingered uncertainly before his face became hard. "I don't think it's any of your business."

"You're right, it's not. But I'm making it my business. Now, I'm only going to ask one more time before I drag you through the market behind my ostrich-horse. What did you think you were doing?"

The man was silent, as if sizing her up. This gave her the opportunity to study him in return. He couldn't be older than she was, and if he was, it could only be by a few months. He had dark skin, but then compared to her own fair complexion, most Earth Kingdom people had a good tan. His hair was dark brown, almost black, and his eyes were dark green. He was about Jord's size, rather slim, only slightly taller with a hair more muscle. Xahn had only a little stubble along his jaw line and above his upper lip, and besides that, he was clean shaven.

Xahn's voice quickly regained Jord's attention. "They asked me if I had any coins to spare. I told them to get their own. They continued to beg, so I did something about it."

Jord stared at him for a moment. "What makes you think you have any right to do that?"

"In case you haven't noticed, only the fit survive. The strong prey on the weak, that is how the world works, how nature works." Xahn laughed. "Or have you been living comfortably too long?"

"We survive, it's not too comfortable." Jord shot back. "But I don't consider myself better than anyone else in Iso Han, either. My family and I make our living and share where we can." She turned her back to him and offered both hands to the elderly beggars at her feet. They accepted the gesture gratefully, even while Jord kept addressing the smug Xahn behind her. "So tell us, what do you have that makes you better than me, or them, or any of us?"

"I am a man, isn't that enough?"

Jord laughed. "No, it just makes you human and sexist. I've worked with and trained plenty of men, and they're much better than you."

"I bet they are."

She stopped at that part, right in the middle of escorting the beggars and what appeared to be their grandchild to the shade of the tavern, too. Jord knew exactly what he was hinting at, and she did admit that she could have worded it differently, but everyone else around them knew what she was talking about. Jord clenched her jaw and continued walking the paupers towards the shade.

"So you'll just walk away? That's it?" Xahn laughed. "And here I thought you had a bigger backbone."

"Oh, I've got a backbone. I just know when to use it." Jord helped the old panhandlers sit down on the tavern's porch, then handed them what was left of her meal. Their dirt-caked granddaughter looked up at her quietly, but Jord didn't stick around to even smile.

Hoz shifted his feet uneasily as his master walked back out into the sunlight, towards the man who had just basically assaulted her honor. Xahn smirked, getting into a goofy fighting stance, as if to mock her. "Come on then. If you're going to make me regret what I just said, you'll have to do more than glare. Let's see if those tavern bums are telling the truth, when they say you helped to train the Earth Kingdom's soldiers."

"I'll make you eat those words." Jord balled her hand into a fist and swung out at the man. "Those "tavern bums", they're soldiers, and they have more honor in their eyebrows than you do in your whole body!" He blocked easily, which surprised Jord, and he countered with a hard stomp on the ground. A small hunk of rock jerked out of the road and smacked into her shoulder.

"Didn't think I was a Bender, did you?" Xahn sneered.

"No. But that doesn't make you better. Just different." Jord shifted her stance and dodged the rock that was thrown at her. Her foot kicked up loose dirt as she dropped and twisted, dodging a strangely well-aimed kick. She rolled to her feet, and just as Xahn brought his foot up in preparation to rip out some more rocks, Jord threw something in his face.

Xahn recoiled, yelling and cursing and clawing at his face, trying to get the fine sand and dust out of his eyes. Jord spun around, and the heel of her right foot connected with his side. She then physically yanked him off his feet and flipped him onto the ground. The force of the throw was strong enough to knock the breath right out of his chest. He coughed and sputtered, suddenly unsure of what to do. "I'm a Bender…" He groaned, struggling to get his breath back. "I should be stronger than you."

"Power has nothing to do with it, you punk." Jord shifted to a more comfortable ready stance. "It's about skill and timing and understanding. Apparently, you don't have that."

"I don't need that…" Xahn stumbled to his feet, still too unsteady to Bend immediately.

Jord snorted. She wasn't feeling too sympathetic, and after what he had said and the way he had acted, she was all for beating the snot out of him. "I think you need a few lessons in humility, among other things. Like tact." She grabbed him by the back of his shirt, jerked him backwards, and slammed her fist into one of his kidneys. Xahn gasped, too stunned and in too much pain to do anything else, and Jord let him drop. He would be covered with bruises later, but at least there weren't any open wounds. The only blood came out of his mouth and nose, when his face and the earth he was supposed to be Bending became one. "Once you get up, you drag your sorry self back to where ever it is you live, and you think about what you did and what was done to you. And if you get the chance to do something like this again, you think about it. Because if I'm not around to fix you, someone else better be." She turned and walked away, back towards her mount.

Hoz snorted and scratched at the ground, snapping his beak impatiently. As Jord lead him past the groaning, defeated Xahn, the ostrich kicked some dirt at him. Jord could help but laugh at the irony.

END FLASHBACK

Nasu and Ronyn studied their daughter for a moment, then turned and gave each other "the look." Jord glanced from one parent to the next, unsure of whether or not this was a good look or a bad one. "What… Neither of you believe me? When have I ever lied to you?"

"It's not that we don't believe you…" Ronyn started, somewhat offhandedly.

"But you left the boy just laying there." Nasu seemed to finish what Ronyn was starting.

Jord just looked at them both. "You aren't seriously going to… punish me, because I left him there, are you? He deserved it!"

"That doesn't make it completely right. Yes, we're proud of you for defending those people, but Circe…" Ronyn put down his empty tea cup. "That doesn't mean he had to be left in the street."

Jord stayed silent.

"Circe, honey.." Nasu stood up and approached her daughter, putting her arm around Jord's shoulder. "We know how you feel. And we're proud of you for doing the right thing. But you also need to know that _everyone_ needs to take responsibility for what they do, including you."

She stayed quiet a little longer. "I know…" Jord turned her gaze back to the window. "What do you want me to do?"

Her parents were quiet for a moment. "Your mother and I may have to talk about it. But I think we'll be able to let you know in the morning." Was Ronyn's response.

Jord just nodded.

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It had been decided. They were going to start their own search, and they were going to start it in Omashu. All they had to do was load up Appa's saddle, get the saddle on, and just leave.

"Seriously, do we need this much stuff? It's like we're moving or something." Sokka complained as he and Toph loaded up the saddle for the next day. Well, it was more like Sokka was doing the loading. Toph really had no inclination to help, since she preferred to pack for herself and only herself. It kept her from getting involved with someone else's belongings. "Aren't you going to help?!" Sokka snapped, struggling to pull a particularly stubborn piece of luggage into Appa's huge saddle.

"What, your big bad self can't do it?"

"Yes, I can do it! I just don't want to do the work by myself."

Toph just scoffed, but in the end they both knew she would end up helping… somehow. It was how they all turned out after spending the past years together.

Not only did the four friends grow as a group over the last six years, but they had grown as individuals as well. Sokka, at the age of twenty-one, was much more muscular and well-built compared to his skinny, scrawny self six years previous. At this point in his life, he was close to being six-and-a-half-feet tall, and probably somewhere between one hundred and eighty and two hundred pounds. His fighting skills had also been well honed over the years, so he was a more impressive figure now than he had ever been. He had even grown his hair out a bit, opting to keep it loosely tied back and have his bangs fall just barely over his eyes. He still kept his facial hair down, though, despite the fact that Katara had suggested that growing it out might make him even more attractive. If Suki didn't care, neither did he.

Katara had also changed, as well. As mentioned previously, she had mastered her Waterbending art, and had even tried taking it one step farther just to see what the art's limits consisted of. She had matured into a very beautiful young woman, and she had yet to find someone who wasn't blind who didn't tell her this. Out of nostalgia, she still wore her hair as she had six years ago. She stood somewhere around five-and-a-half feet in height, maybe a little taller, and likely a good fifty or sixty pounds lighter than her brother. According to many people (especially the older women) she would make a wonderful mother. The only problem was, Katara had yet to find the time or motive to settle down and try to start a family. Besides, she still believed she could do a lot of work helping Aang, and that was her main reason for not settling.

Aang, also, had changed. He was no longer one of the shortest members of the group. In fact, he was almost as tall as Sokka. Almost. As in about half a foot shy of Sokka's impressive height. The young Avatar was still small in build, though, despite his defined muscles, which gave him a very wiry and lithe appearance, almost like a cat that was extremely toned. He wasn't as naïve as he was when he was twelve, though, and had a much better understanding of the world around him. Aside from being taller and chiseled, his appearance hadn't changed. He still preferred to shave his head, not to mention the rest of his face as well. His facial features had squared off quite a bit, though, making him look more mature and… masculine.

Just like her companions, Toph had grown and changed. She was taller, almost as tall as Katara, with an equally shapely figure. Her face had also matured, becoming a bit more angular and feminine. But while she had changed physically, she was still a smart-ass of a young woman who needed an attitude adjustment. She was more than capable of being ladylike and polite when she had to, like she had been as a child. And, she still enjoyed getting a rise out of people by abandoning said ladylike mannerisms. She still walked around barefoot, since wearing shoes usually affected the way she "saw" by feeling the vibrations in the earth with her feet. And what Earthbender in their right mind walked around in shoes?

Meanwhile, as Toph and Sokka packed up the bison saddle, Aang and Katara were busy plotting out a general course and plan for what they had in mind. "Since we're obviously going to be going to Omashu first, we'll start there and head towards Gaoling, then to Ba Sing Se. We can stop at whatever towns or cities we find along the way, too. After we search a majority of Earth Kingdom territory, we can-" Katara was interrupted by Toph shouting from a room or two over.

"Can we not go to Gaoling? And if we do, can I stay outside the city with Appa? My father and I aren't exactly on good terms, you know."

"We would need someone to watch Appa…" Aang scratched the back of his neck as he thought out loud.

"Or maybe we can take our time through the countryside, you know? See the sights or… something." Toph kept yelling to them from the other room.

"Fine, when we get to Gaoling, Toph can stay outside with Appa." Katara stared at the map in front of them for a moment. "But after we're done searching Earth Kingdom territory, we can check the North and South Pole Water Tribe lands. That should be easier, since there usually aren't little groups scattered all over the place like they are on land."

"We'll have to search Fire Nation cities, too, you know."

"True… but the war's over. It's been over for six years."

"Yeah, but there are still some people that keep trying to bring it up all the time."

"Don't worry about it, Aang." Katara put a hand on her friend's shoulder comfortingly. "They know what'll happen if they do anything stupid. We should still try, though, in case there are Airbenders there."

"Alright. I suppose that means we'll search the lands that belonged to the Air Nomads last, right?"

"Right. If anything, we can use one of the temples as a base. Maybe the Southern Temple, since that's the one you have to fly to get to. That would keep people away and give any Airbenders we do find a safe place to live until we get something worked out." Katara started to roll up the scrolls and maps they would need for the journey. There was a small box they were going to store said papers in sitting between them on the floor. They even included a few of the letters they thought were actually worth investigating.

"That'd be a good idea. Maybe we can see if we can rebuild the airball court while we're there. I liked playing that when I was a kid."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was nightfall. Jord could see the stars clearly from her spot on the rooftop. She stared up at the star-crowded sky for another moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Lowering her head, she brought her arms up and held them out horizontally, before slowly starting to move them in a complex pattern that simply seemed to… flow. Almost like water through a calm, quiet creek, only more ethereal. She didn't know where she learned it, or if she had just simply made it up on a whim. But it was her style of fighting, a mix of defense and grabs and manipulation of momentum and joints, and a little force learned from her Earthbending parents. It suited her slim form. Instead of sheer force, like the styles most people from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation used, hers was more defensive, yet she had not been able to find someone who was able to hold their own against her when she used it. For some reason, she found it difficult mix this style of unarmed combat with any of her weapons; the only thing she could possibly combine it with was a short staff, and only because it made such a good defensive weapon.

As Jord moved, she kept her eyes closed, meditating as she practiced. It was strange, how her body could just go on automatic when she was practicing this strange fighting (defending?) style. Somehow, her body just _knew_ how to move, like she was born knowing how to do this and all she had to do was get up. Usually, slowly going through the patterns and techniques that were going through her head somehow got her body to relax.

Her mind began to wander, practically entering a dreamlike state. It took her a whole to realize that she was actually dreaming as she practiced, but instead of waking up and simply going to sleep in her own hammock, she stayed right where she was. She was curious as to what she was seeing in her head.

Clouds… or maybe a lot of fog. It was hard to tell, but she was positive it was one of the two. Through the clouds (or fog…) she could see what looked like a temple. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, or what sort of temple it could be, but she was positive it was a temple of some sort. She was approaching the building, as if she was floating or flying, because as far as she could tell her feet never touched the ground.

Jord continued to dream, even as her body continued to practice, and in her dream she explored the strange building in the sky. Eventually her body would tire, and she would most likely automatically lie down, but her mind wasn't focused on sleeping. It was simply going to dream.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Author's Note: Think of Jord's martial arts style as three parts Aikido and one part Earthbending. Just an FYI, it'll come together later in the story, I promise.


	4. Always Listen to Your Gut

Here is where the action should pick up a little. Make the story move along faster and all.

Just to let you know, I'm notorious for writing a lot of chapters. But I swear they'll be worth it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, **_and _**Ronyn**_.

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"So… how long am I going to have to ride Appa?"

It was the day their journey was supposed to start, and Toph wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She liked Appa, and had no reason to distrust him… but when they were flying, she couldn't see, and that made her extremely anxious. She didn't like being anxious. And when she was anxious, her attitude just became that much worse.

"With just us and with what we've loaded into the saddle, it should take less than a day to get there." Aang said, currently checking the saddle to make sure it was tight, and readjusting the reins on Appa's horns. "Besides, Appa's a fast flier. We'll be there in no time."

"If you say so…" Toph grumbled. She turned and started walking back towards the house. "I'll be waiting, I better say good-bye to sight while I still can."

"It's not that bad."

"Just remember who has to deal with me." Toph dropped down on the steps, and made no hint of ever getting up until they were ready to leave. Besides, she figured she had a little time to waste, anyway. Sokka may have grown up quite a bit, but he still nit-picked. He just had to make sure everything was _ready_ before they left.

But that was fine with her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Something was pecking on her head.

Jord awoke with a start, yet her jerk didn't even startle the birds that had clustered around her. "Get!" Jord waved her arms angrily, causing the birds to scatter and take to the air. "Get out of here before I sic my cat-owl on you!" She scowled and rubbed her forehead, trying to make the funny tingling sensation leave. Not one of the best ways to wake up, in her opinion, but definitely better than having Ronyn flip her hammock over.

Speaking of her parents…

She sighed, pulling the trap door in the flat roof open and jumping down through it into her own room. Zin meowed loudly, giving Jord an intense look, as if demanding something. Jord chuckled and walked over to his perch. "I know, you heard me. Should have gone up there, you big pig-chicken." She held out her arm, and the animal climbed up on it and walked up to sit on her shoulders. "Might have gotten something more to eat, if you had."

Zin just meowed again, rubbing his head against Jord's.

She just chuckled again, sliding her door open and entering the main room in the house. Her first goal was getting something to eat, for herself and for the growling stomach of the cat-owl on her shoulder. She opened a cupboard and rummaged around, pushing aside different bags of tea until she found what she was looking for; her stash of noodles, as well as dried apple slices for the flying apple-monger.

"So…" Jord and Zin both nearly launched themselves through the roof of the house. The blonde turned around to see who had startled them so badly, only to find a very smug looking Nasu.

Jord gave her a dirty look. "You're pretty pleased with that one, aren't you." It was more of an observation than a question.

"I am." Nasu's smug look never faltered. She held out her arm and Zin gratefully flapped over to it. "Ready to hear what your father and I came up with?"

"Depends. I don't like the fact that I was just abandoned by my owl."

Zin glared at her resentfully before turning his back to her.

"Oh, now look at what you've done." Nasu cooed at the cat-owl, petting him on the head. Before long, he was purring. "She can be so insensitive, can't she? Yes she can."

Her mother's baby-talk was starting to get on Jord's nerves. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. So what's my punishment?"

"You're going to take some salve over there and give it to him. _Personally_." Nasu gave her daughter a stern look to get the point across.

"I said I wasn't going to apologize!"

"We didn't say apologize, just deliver the salve."

Jord groaned, rubbing her right temple with her free hand. "Fine… anything else?"

"You're going to help me with my orders. I've got a set of robes I need to make, and you're a near exact match to the size of the young man who's getting them."

"What? I have to help you make clothes?!" Jord threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. Playing seamstress was not her favorite past time. "It's official, Fate hates me. It's not my fault if they come apart at the seams, I can't sew to save my life."

"I know. That's why you're modeling." Nasu laughed at the expression on Jord's face. "I have a whole list of slim people around your height to make clothing for."

"That's not fair!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Life certainly wasn't fair.

Typically, most people like to be able to start their trip or vacation without a hitch. No one likes to be held up, either for the one person who still has to go to the bathroom, or the other person who wants to bring a certain thing and can't find it. Normally, they don't have to worry about being interrupted by an explosion, or a battle, or something so far out of the ordinary that it would make even the most gullible person question them when they heard that was the reason they were late.

If only that wasn't Aang's luck.

The explosion rocked the ground they stood on, making even Toph yelp. For a moment, they couldn't locate the source of the sudden, earth-shaking force. But Toph could pinpoint the epicenter, and Aang realized that no one could miss the mushroom-shaped cloud of dirt and debris coming from the center of the small town. "It's this way!" Aang yelled. He pulled the saddle off Appa's back in one smooth motion, snatched up his staff, then took a running leap into the air. The wings of the glider snapped open, and in the blink of an eye Aang was airborne. Sokka and the other two Benders ran after him as he made a beeline for the quickly settling debris.

Aang couldn't believe his eyes. He almost didn't want to believe his eyes. There, right in the middle of town, was a boy possibly no older than ten doing something he thought he would never see again in his life. It wasn't that the boy was going crazy and attacking anything that moved, as well as things that didn't, nor was it the fact his eyes were glowing white, like Aang's did when he was in the Avatar State. Only, this white wasn't bright white, like his. It seemed… tainted. No, those weren't the things that made his jaw nearly hit the floor.

The boy was attacking with orbs of concentrated air.

The boy was Airbending… he was Airbending! Aang's heart practically jumped into his throat, he was so excited. He almost didn't see the air orb flying at him till the last second, because he was that stunned. Aang leaned hard to the right, throwing himself into a roll and barely dodging the shot. He angled the glider towards the ground, going into a steep dive, dodging two more orbs before spinning and blowing the boy right off his feet.

The moment his friends showed up, they were in on it as well. Katara pulled water out of a nearby well, forming it into tentacles and having them grab at the youth. While she distracted him, Toph slammed her fist into the ground, sending a wave of rocks at the boy's direction. "Don't hurt him!" Aang yelled as he banked, turning around for another swoop. "He's Airbending! He's an Airbender!"

"And he's dangerous, Aang!" Katara yelled, nearly getting smacked by a blast of air. "We have to stop him!"

"Something's wrong with him!" Toph yelled, blocking one air blast and returning it with a couple of flying rocks. "It feels like he doesn't know what he's doing. He's stepping way to hard for an Airbender, almost like he's stumbling. What's it look like up there?"

"About the same." Aang missed on his second swoop, and he dropped to the ground, spinning the wings back into the staff. "I'm not sure he knows what he's doing. If you three can distract him, maybe I can get in close enough to grab him."

"Way ahead of you, Twinkletoes." Toph stomped on the ground, pulling a stone pillar out of the ground and launching the boy into the sky. Katara's watery tentacles grabbed him out of the air and pulled him into the huge glob of water that the tentacles were coming out of. The boy thrashed and jerked trying to free himself; Katara motioned with her hands and the tentacles pulled him out and threw him on the ground.

Aang then pounced, landing just as the boy set off a torrent of wind. The blast knocked the Avatar into the air, but he quickly recovered and came down twice as hard. The boy raised his hand and fired another orb at Aang. Aang twisted to the side, tripped over the boy's kick, and would have landed on his rear if he hadn't blasted himself up and onto a roof.

The boy was stronger than he looked. What puzzled Aang was that this young Airbender wasn't fighting like an Airbender. Hell, he wasn't even _acting_ like one. Air Nomads weren't fighters, they were peaceful people who only fought to defend and protect. This boy was actually looking for someone to fight. And the way he was fighting… it didn't seem natural. When a warrior was in complete control, their movements flowed… The way this boy was moving, it was like something was forcing him to fight.

Like a puppet.

"Wait… that's it." Aang murmured quietly. His sudden epiphany kept him from seeing the orb that nearly knocked his head off. "Katara! Something's controlling him! We need to break the connection somehow!"

Sokka heard Aang, and he rushed forward. The boy saw this, and turned and began firing air orbs at him. The Water Tribe warrior ducked and weaved, dodging the attacks easily and quickly shortening the distance between himself and the crazed Airbender. Twisting around the boy, Sokka easily brought himself up behind him. In one swift move, Sokka's fist connected with the side of the boy's head, knocking him out cold. He caught the boy just as he started to drop, and he gently put him down on the ground.

"Sokka! He's just a kid!" Katara yelled, surprised that her brother had just taken out a kid like he would have taken out a soldier. "You could have killed him!"

"I didn't, okay? He's fine, just unconscious. At least he isn't blowing anything else up…" Sokka snorted. "You would have thought the war was starting all over again. Who would have thought an Airben…der…" His voice trailed off as his mind suddenly registered who it was he had just knocked out.

Realization seemed to hit them all at once. Sokka and Katara stared down at the boy, mouths opened in a stunned silence. Even Toph was unusually quiet, her face revealing an emotion somewhere between shock and curiosity. Aang, however, was most affected by it. This was something he had only ever dreamed about. Finding Momo six years ago was a huge boost for his confidence, but this was something else entirely. Another Air Nomad, another Airbender… but where was his family? Was he the only one there? Questions were racing through Aang's mind, so fast it almost made his head spin. Why had his eyes been glowing, and why had he been in such a destructive rage? If he was right and the boy had been controlled, who was pulling the strings? And if he wasn't an Airbender…. Well, Aang didn't want to think about that last part. Who could Airbend but the Airbenders and the Avatar? And since _he_ was the Avatar…

"He's a Nomad…" Aang said quietly, slowly sitting down in the dirt next to the boy. The questions in his head were slowing down, being replaced with a shocked numbness. The feeling seemed to settle over him like a heavy, suffocating blanket. For a moment, Aang actually found it hard to breath. "I'm not the only one after all… there are others out there, other Nomads."

"We just… need to find them." Katara added in the same stunned voice. Sokka's voice had left him entirely. "You were right Aang, there are others out there. And we will find them."

Toph only wanted to know two things. "Are we still going to Omashu? And if we are, we aren't bringing him, are we?"

"Toph…"

"What? I'm curious."


	5. A new Airbender

I know it seems like a lot of these chapters don't have a lot of action, but I swear that when the action shows up again, it'll be so good it'll make it all worthwhile. Until then, thanks for reading.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn **_and _**Zeph**_.

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"Can you tell us what was going on in the square two days ago?"

It was two days after Aang and the others found a second Air Nomad. After the fight, the boy's mother came running up to them demanding to know what had happened. They had to explain the situation a couple times before the woman finally understood what it was they were saying. They helped her take him home, and while Katara took care of the wounds on the boy, Aang asked if it was possible that they could speak with him when he woke up. The boy's mother said she wanted to talk to him first, and that she would send word to them when both she and her son were ready.

Two days later, they were ready, and Aang and Katara were the ones to go.

"I… I can't remember…" The boy said, frowning and lowing his gaze. His name was Zeph, which was a shorter version of a longer version that Aang just wasn't even going to try to pronounce. He had brown shaggy hair that fell over his blue eyes. Zeph was a bit on the skinny side, and he reminded Katara of her older brother during the war. "At first I thought I was dreaming… but then I tried to wake up." Zeph frowned. "It didn't work… I felt like I wasn't the one who was doing those things. And there was a voice in my head… saying that I wasn't the one they were looking for."

"But you're better now, right?" Katara asked, sitting down next to the shy boy.

"Yeah… but I'm a little scared. That voice was really creepy."

"Don't be." The Waterbender smiled reassuringly. "You're a very special person. There's nothing to be scared of. Whoever "they" are, we won't let them hurt you."

"Are you going to take me away from my mom?"

"No. We won't take you away. But my friend Aang here would like to talk to you. You know who he is, right?" Katara gestured for Aang to come closer from his spot near the doorway, next to Zeph's mother.

"Yeah. He's the Avatar."

"I'm glad you recognize him." Katara got up, and Aang reoccupied the seat she had been in. While Aang and Zeph struck up a conversation, Katara approached the boy's mother. "He seems to be doing a lot better. Has he told you anything specific about what happened?"

"Nothing that he hasn't told you…" A strange look crossed the woman's features for a moment. "Although… all of a sudden, he's able to Bend. Air, of course, not the ground like his father could. After that day, it was just there. He's experimented with it a little, but the memory of that afternoon scares him enough to keep him from really exploring it. It was his dream, to be a Bender like his father… but we could never tell him that he hadn't inherited anything from us."

"He's not your son?"

"No… we found him when he was just a baby. He didn't even have teeth. We asked all around, trying to find his mother… but no one ever came to get him. Since I am unable to bear children, we raised him as our own…" Tears welled up in her eyes. "He was devastated when his father died a couple years ago… he was a soldier, you know, helping to put down the remaining groups of Fire Nation soldiers that still resisted. It took him months to find the heart to even smile… it was hard for both of us."

"I am sorry for your loss." Katara frowned. She understood what it was like to loose a parent, and she missed her mother every day. She never truly got over the pain. "Aang was pretty excited when he realized your son was an Airbender. Did you ever find his parents, or anyone related to him?"

"No, never… no one came for him. It was like he appeared out of thin air." She chuckled dryly. "Imagine the irony if that were true."

Katara watched Aang and Zeph talking. They seemed to be getting along very well, like they were best friends. Katara thought it was probably a Nomad thing, being able to talk so freely with each other. "You've got a beautiful son. He's a good kid."

"He is, he's my light." The mother smiled faintly. "And I want what's best for him. I could never teach him how to be a Bender…"

"Ma'am-" Katara knew exactly where this was going, and she didn't have a good feeling about it.

"I would like the Avatar to teach my son how to be an Air Nomad. His father always fascinated him with the stories of those people that his grandfather used to tell him. How they could fly through the air and run up walls… Zeph wanted to do that. Two days ago, he may have been terrified, but I promise you that within the week he won't be able to stop talking about it." She stared at her son affectionately as she spoke. "Please… where ever it is you are going, take him with you. It's best that he goes with you and the Avatar… I'll miss him so much, but I know this is the best thing for him."

Katara frowned. "Are you aware of what this might do to your son? Adopted or not, he still considers you his real mother. Would he feel like he was being abandoned?"

The woman stayed silent.

Katara turned and watched Aang and Zeph a little longer. She liked seeing Aang happy, like he was now, but she didn't want to feel responsible for a ten year old boy who suddenly manifested Airbending powers. Something, deep in her core, told her that something wasn't right. Not something directly related to Zeph, just something in general. It was almost as if something was wrong with the world itself, like some nightmare had been put in motion. What scared her even more, though, was that she didn't know what it was.

"Mom!" Zeph was suddenly running towards his mother. "The Avatar said I can learn to be a real Airbender! I can be a Bender like dad!" The huge grin on his face seemed to light him up, and the look was priceless. "I can learn to fly and run on walls, like dad said they could. I'm a Nomad!"

Zeph's mom laughed quietly before suddenly taking her son in her arms. "My sweet baby boy…" Katara felt her stomach knot up painfully.

'_Please no, you don't know what you're doing…'_

"Would you like to learn to be a real Air Nomad?"

'_No, please say no. Stay with your mom, Zeph, because I know Aang won't make you-'_

"Yeah!"

Katara's stomach lurched.

"Then here is what I want you to do." The woman sat down and pulled her son into her lap. "I want you to ask the Avatar to teach you, and go with him so you can learn. He's a very busy man, but it would be easier for him to teach you if you traveled with him."

"Ma'am, please, you don't need-" Katara tried to stop what she believed was a serious mistake, but Aang interrupted her.

"I'd love to teach him. I don't have a problem with it." The Avatar flashed a huge grin.

Katara cringed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was later that night, and Katara, Aang, and the new Airbending boy had returned to the small building Aang and his friends had been staying in. It had taken Zeph's mom a while to convince him that he wasn't going to be away from her forever, and the ordeal was enough to send Katara outside to wait for them. Toph had been expecting just Aang and Katara, but a small red flag went up in her head when she felt a third set of feet. "Alright, I know you brought the kid. Why?"

"So I can teach him to be an Airbender." Aang replied matter-of-factly. "His mother insisted on it."

"… And you agreed, didn't you."

"Well… yeah."

Toph groaned. "I can't believe you, nice going Twinkletoes. It's a wonder that thick skull of yours doesn't weigh you down." She got up from the pillow she had been sitting on, clearly getting ready to leave. "Since we aren't leaving for Omashu today, I'm going to bed. We better be leaving tomorrow, because if I feel one more messenger coming up those steps with a new letter about something funny going on, I'm going to go crazy." She stomped off towards the room she slept in, pausing at the hallway entrance. It looked as though she was going to say something else, but instead she shook her head and continued stomping.

Zeph was quiet for a moment. "Is it me she's angry at? And why did her eyes look weird?"

"She's blind, and no, I don't think she's angry at anyone. She's probably just annoyed." Katara walked past Aang and the boy, carrying a bag Zeph's mother had given them. It held some of his clothes, along with a few miscellaneous items. Sokka was no where to be seen, so it was likely he was already asleep.

"Would you like to work on some of that Airbending now?" Aang knelt down next to Zeph. "It's not that late, maybe we can discuss the basics."

"Really?!"

Aang nodded, and was rewarded with Zeph's enthusiastic grin. "Good. Sit down, we'll just be talking."

Katara stayed quiet, having no desire to get involved right away. She had to talk to someone about the thoughts gnawing away at her head, and since she really didn't feel like facing her brother at the moment, Toph seemed like the better choice. Besides, they shared a room, and Katara was planning on getting some extra sleep anyway.

Leaving the two Airbenders in the main room, Katara slowly walked down the hall. By the time she got to her bedroom door, she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to talk to Toph or not. But the whole situation was bothering her, and she wasn't going to get any sleep at all if she was up all night thinking about it. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the handle on the door and pushed it to the side. "Toph? Can I talk to you?"

The blanket-covered lump on the sleeping mat closest to the window grunted.

"Something about what's been going on… is bothering me. I'm glad that there are other Airbenders out there, since we found this one, and I'm glad to see Aang this happy. But something doesn't seem right." She sat down on her own mat. "It's just a feeling in my stomach."

The lump stirred for a moment, and Toph finally sat up. "So what's it say?"

"My stomach?" Katara frowned. "I think… I think it says something like "Not everything is what it seems." Maybe there's something going on that we aren't aware of."

Toph continued to stare ahead. "The only thing we can do right now is keep our eyes and ears open. If there _is_ something going on, we'll find it one way or another." Laying down and rolling onto her side, she was silent for a moment. "And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"I am not going to be a babysitter."


	6. More of Those Funny Feelings

So, later in this chapter, it's going to be mentioned that Jord is a cheater when it comes to fighting, especially when it's supposed to be unarmed combat. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it. And you know what? I fully intend to try to make them.

I just need to get the parts. . 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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Sometimes, things happen to people for certain reasons. Some think it's a Higher Power trying to teach them a lesson, and that's why they are where they are. Some think Fate and Karma are in cahoots, and that every now and then they like a good joke. Who doesn't? A few more think that specific events happen to give someone a kick in the pants, to wake them up and make them look at the bigger picture, instead of their own little part of it.

Yet, when things come to pass, the people that experience them never think of this as it happens, or right afterwards. They're usually thinking "Why me?"

Unknown to Jord, what was basically being planned for her was probably going to end up being one of those situations.

But for the moment, she was just content to be sitting on the roof of her family's house, staring up at the sky and trying to count the stars. She kept loosing count, but since she had a serious case of insomnia, she knew she had all night. Besides, she figured if she kept counting long enough she'd fall asleep on her own. Who needs a bunch of sheep-pigs when you can just count stars? This was the first time in three weeks where she was able to just lay someplace, punishment-free and completely healthy. She had finally worked off her punishment (which involved running more errands than usual and getting jabbed by that damn needle a few times), and had been sick all the past week. She was just glad to be bored again.

Jord continued to stare up at the sky, loosing count yet again and starting over in the same spot. Normally she would have been messing with something, either sharpening a knife blade or whittling, but she was far too lazy to get up and get something. That left her stuck with, you guessed it, counting stars. While she counted, her mind started to wander, and she thought back on the last couple of weeks. During the last week, she had come down with something, some sort of cold or illness, which had rendered her nearly immobile. It was strange, because not even the local healers had ever seen anything like it. It was a wonder that the fever itself didn't kill her. Yet somehow, she managed to recover, and now usually only felt a little light-headed or nauseous.

Speaking of nausea… a wave of the feeling washed over her, making her stomach knot up painfully. Groaning quietly, she rolled onto her side and curled up, wrapping her arms around her midsection in an attempt to alleviate it. Jord took a deep breath, and relaxed a little when the nausea began to subside. The periods of nausea and dizziness were extremely random, she had no way of predicting when or where it would happen, or even why. There really didn't seem to be any reason for it, unless she was still sick. It wasn't as if that particular thought hadn't crossed her mind, she just didn't want to give it much thought.

It might make her sick again. You never know.

Jord sat up, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees. She bowed her head, then began taking deep, steady breaths. As she meditated, she imagined she was inhaling cool clean air, and exhaling dirty black smoke. Basically, she was mentally trying to clean out her system, bringing in the good and removing the bad. The technique usually helped her to calm her nerves and mind, leaving her feeling a bit more refreshed. But since she was still sick, she was lucky to feel the nausea subside.

Now her head was throbbing. "Great…" she grumbled, resting her head on her hands and pressing her elbows against her knees. Jord pressed the tips of her fingers against her temples, massaging them and hoping the pressure would make the pain go away. "I think I'm better off drinking those horrible tasting herbal teas." She paused, as if suddenly thinking about what she had just said. "You know, on second thought, I think I'll take the headache."

But that didn't mean she had to stay outside.

Slowly getting to her feet, Jord stretched, making sure there was no stiffness in her knees or back. Standing out on the roof a moment longer, her gaze returned to the sky. In a way, she envied Zin. He could fly, he was more than capable of taking off into the air and never coming back. But the cat-owl never did, and for that she was thankful. It showed undying trust, something that was rare even in Iso Han, especially after the war.

Just as she had opened the trap door, and was preparing to drop down into her room, she felt the air change. It was almost too strange to describe, but it was like the pressure was being altered suddenly. She could feel it in her head. Opening her jaw and yawning to relieve the uncomfortable feeling, she stood where she was and waited. Her head had started to hurt again, but she decided it was because of what had just happened.

Suddenly, and without any sort of warning, the affect on the air was reversed.

Jord grit her teeth and held her head in her hands, as if trying to keep her head from caving in or exploding or whatever it felt like it was about to do. She forced out another yawn before standing up straighter and turning around. Her gaze combed the rooftops of the small houses around her, looking for anything that was out of the ordinary. Her mind kept praying that it was just one of those weird flukes, something nature did to keep everyone on their toes. Her gut, however, was telling her something was likely to happen.

From just beyond the market place, in a somewhat uninhabited part of town, a plume of dirt and debris shot up into the air. The shockwave from the explosion shook the ground, causing Zin below to snarl. Jord could hear Hoz making a strange sort of screeching noise, something he did only when something terrified him. She cursed and jumped through the door, startling the poor cat-owl even more. Not even pausing long enough to apologize, she grabbed the two small dual hammers from their hooks on the wall, just above a pair of swords, then snatched up a pair of plated, clawed gloves and a pair of goggles with black crystal lenses as she passed through the door. The goggles were to protect her eyes, because she hated having to stop and rub dirt or sand out of them and by the spirits it HURT to have something in there. Having her sight as one less thing to worry about, she could focus all of her attention to fighting.

The gloves had been the result of an idea she had gotten as a child, after watching two warriors sparring unarmed soon after moving to Iso Han. It had been a childish thought really… "What if they had claws? That would be cool!" As she grew older, however, and saw many different types of weapons pass through the town, the thought had returned. With the help of her extremely skeptical (though willing) father, she created her unique weapons; it basically consisted of a pair of leather gloves, plated with metal on the tops of the fingers and thumbs and the back of her hands. Metal bands around each finger bone and the palms and rivets on the tops kept them secured to the leather. Leather padded, metal bracers were used to secure the gloves to the user, making it difficult to have them simply slide off. Sharp points covered the tips of the fingers, with very small blades similar to claws coming out in the "fingernail" area of the gloves. At first glance they looked like useless toys, but they provided extra protection to her hands and an added advantage to "unarmed" combat.

It was because of this that Nasu said Jord would one day be notorious for cutting corners and finding "unfair" advantages. She always said it with a smile, though.

Jord dashed out of the house as quietly as possible, already aware that the explosion should have awakened plenty of people. As she ran towards the mushroom cloud of dust, she slipped the dark goggles onto her head, pulled the gloves on her hands, and secured the bracers around her forearms. She was quickly closing the distance between herself and the source of the explosion, and likely the strange affect on the air she had experienced. Clenching a hammer tightly in each gloved hand, she skid around a corner and sprinted down the alley she came to, hoping that her target was in the small deserted square at the end.

Had Jord known what it was she was going to be confronting, she might have said to heck with it and simply gone to bed. Her pride, though, usually got the better of her, and her need to constantly prove herself often landed her in dangerous situations. However, none of those past "situations" had been as strange as this. Standing right there in the middle of the area was a boy close to her age, likely a couple of years younger. Like most of the people in Iso Han (it was actually more like "everyone else", now that she was thinking about it) he had a head full of dark hair. In the middle of the night it was hard to make out the actual color, but it was definitely dark. He was clad in neutral tones, gray pants and a tunic several shades darker, possibly black. His eyes, though… normally, eye color was nearly impossible to make out in the dark of night. But his were _glowing_. The color wasn't completely white; it seemed to be tinged with yellow or gold. The eerie result made her nausea come back, and the glow made her head hurt.

The boy's attention suddenly turned to her. He raised a hand and thrust it at her. She didn't see anything coming, and simply stood there, thinking it was a ruse.

Some invisible force slammed into her chest dead on, sending her flying backwards and into the stone wall of what she hoped was an empty house. Gasping, she sat there, stunned and finding it suddenly hard to breath with having the air knocked right out of her. She groaned, getting back to her oddly unsteady feet and propping herself up against the wall behind her. Having no idea as to what had hit her, she darted forward uneasily, bringing one hammer in front of her and holding one behind her.

The second attack hit the hammer first, causing the weapon to recoil and slam into her sternum. Having definitely felt that one, Jord dropped, coughing and spitting up what she was hoping wasn't blood. The ground to her right exploded, showering her with dirt and bits of rock. Jumping and rolling to the side, she forced herself to her feet and took off sprinting once again, trying to bring herself around the boy so she could nail him from behind. He was quick though, he managed to keep her in his sights. Whatever he was attacking her with, however, was landing just behind her, so at least his aim was off. Jord knew she wasn't going to be able to keep it up for too long, and if she ran out of energy before he did… well, she didn't want to think about it.

Coming to a screeching halt, the young fighter decided on a more straight forward approach. Keeping her hammers to the side to avoid having them hit her again, she ran towards her attacker a second time. Her keen eyes watched him as he drew back an arm, hand open and palm facing her. Just as his arm began to move forward, Jord hopped to the side and kept right on going. Fortunately, the attack missed, and the ground behind her and to the left exploded in a spray of pebbles. Running as fast as she could, Jord swung one of her hammers in a wide arch, aiming for her attacker's left shoulder.

Much to her surprise, he adapted very quickly. Snapping up his other hand, he swung at her. The force of his attack caught her in the stomach and sent her flying. The two or three seconds she was airborne had to have been the longest seconds of her life. Her airtime was cut short, though, when she hit another house and fell right through the dilapidated roof and into the one room building. Laying there for a moment, trying to catch her breath, she realized she was going to have some very impressive bruises if she walked away from this. It had been a long time since she had been in a fight of this magnitude, and she hadn't ever fought someone who attacked with some sort of invisible power. At least with other Benders, she would see the water or ice, and the fire and earth. It was almost like this one was fighting with the very air.

Jord blinked. "Impossible." She sat up slowly, feeling a strange stiffness settle into her shoulders. "He can't be Bending air. Nomads have been gone for over a century." She stood up, wincing. The thought wouldn't leave her head, though, and she decided she must be going crazy.

Then a thought occurred to her. The boy's attacks were practically invisible, she usually only got a brief blurry glimpse before the attack hit something. Yet, his attacks were kicking up quite a bit of fine dirt, and the particles clung to the air and floated where they were, seemingly unable to return to the ground. Whenever he attacked, the dust clouds would warp and the force would come out of the very middle of the swell. The idea that was forming in her head was risky, but her hope was that if she timed it right, she'd be able to see what was hitting her. Jord stumbled forward before finally regaining her balance, then pushed the rickety door open and started running again. Which was good, since the moment she left the doorway, the boy's attack hit the doorframe and nearly blew in the front wall of the small house.

Jord came to a sliding stop, changing her direction, then took off again, straight for the boy. The small square they were fighting in was by now full of the little floating particles, nearly completely blocking her vision. Thankfully, her goggles kept the dust out of her eyes. She saw the dust ahead of her surge suddenly, right where her head was going to be, and she dove forward, rolling back to her feet just as a blast of something (she was still denying he was Airbending) flew above her. Once she was running again, the boy's shadowy figure formed in the dust. Jumping to the side as another blast flew at her, she dropped one hammer and lunged at her target, swinging her plated fist at his head.

The feeling of her fist connecting with his head was, in her opinion, very satisfying. Even six years after the war, she still had it. It had taken her a while to bring it back up, but in the end she had won out. Her ego was quickly beating back how humble she had been feeling, but at the very back of her mind, she knew that once she woke up in the morning that humble feeling was going to be back. In the form of some very nasty bruises. Hopefully, that would be all she would wake up with.

A sudden flash of light nearly blinded Jord, even with the dark lenses covering her eyes. She yelped, surprised, and jumped back, completely forgetting the fact that she had just knocked out some kid a couple years her junior. The light flashed a second time, forcing her to stumble back. Her foot connected with something on the ground, and by the time her head hit the floor, she realized she had tripped over her own hammer. The pain in her head, which she had been able to ignore thanks to her adrenaline rush, returned with a vengeance, stabbing itself into the very center of her brain. Groaning, her hands grabbed her head and pressed, trying to force the migraine out of her skull and into any other part of her body.

'_**Ah, much better than the boy.'**_

"What?" There was a voice in her head. Where had that come from? She must be losing it, too much pain…

_'**You're different… are you what we've been looking for?'**_

"I'm going crazy, I'm hearing voices in my head-"

_'**You are far from crazy, child. You ARE what we've been looking for. You are our key. You are divine. You are OURS!'**_

Jord's body began to thrash uncontrollably, twitching and jerking violently. So many thoughts were going through her head, and yet as busy as her mind was under the strange attack she was completely aware of what was happening to her battered body. Her head felt like it was going to explode, her throat was on fire and her eyes hurt, she could feel blood coming out of her ears and nose and mouth and oh dear spirits the PAIN was just too much. Jord tried to scream, but the only sound she could make was a choking gurgle of a cry. Spitting up some more blood and realizing her vision was going dark. "Get out… of me…" She gasped, choking and spitting again. "Get out.. Just get out."

'_**Let us help you, you have so much potential. Do you know your own po-'**_

"Get OUT!" Jord thrashed again, this time of her own will, trying to remove whatever it was that was trying to invade her body. Whatever was inside her responded by attacking, forcing her body to seizure painfully, causing her head to smack into the hard dirt again. Stars flashed before her eyes, but at least the seizures had eased up. Her body jerked again, and in a desperate attempt to free herself, she raised her head and slammed it down onto the ground.

The light flashed a third time. The alien voice inside her head quieted, and she was relieved to feel a sudden calm, empty feeling replace it. The pain in her body was covered up by numbness. She could hear some people yelling, people running towards her and the unconscious boy nearby. But she didn't care. She was tired, and sore, and suddenly _very_ humble. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Just as she was drifting off, she saw the face of one of her neighbors. She could see him saying something, but she couldn't understand what it was he was saying. Blackness overcame her just as she felt hands grab her by the shoulders and legs and heft her up off the ground.


	7. Downtown Brawl

So, later in this chapter, it's going to be mentioned that Jord is a cheater when it comes to fighting, especially when it's supposed to be unarmed combat. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it. And you know what? I fully intend to try to make them.

I just need to get the parts. . 

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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Sometimes, things happen to people for certain reasons. Some think it's a Higher Power trying to teach them a lesson, and that's why they are where they are. Some think Fate and Karma are in cahoots, and that every now and then they like a good joke. Who doesn't? A few more think that specific events happen to give someone a kick in the pants, to wake them up and make them look at the bigger picture, instead of their own little part of it.

Yet, when things come to pass, the people that experience them never think of this as it happens, or right afterwards. They're usually thinking "Why me?"

Unknown to Jord, what was basically being planned for her was probably going to end up being one of those situations.

But for the moment, she was just content to be sitting on the roof of her family's house, staring up at the sky and trying to count the stars. She kept loosing count, but since she had a serious case of insomnia, she knew she had all night. Besides, she figured if she kept counting long enough she'd fall asleep on her own. Who needs a bunch of sheep-pigs when you can just count stars? This was the first time in three weeks where she was able to just lay someplace, punishment-free and completely healthy. She had finally worked off her punishment (which involved running more errands than usual and getting jabbed by that damn needle a few times), and had been sick all the past week. She was just glad to be bored again.

Jord continued to stare up at the sky, loosing count yet again and starting over in the same spot. Normally she would have been messing with something, either sharpening a knife blade or whittling, but she was far too lazy to get up and get something. That left her stuck with, you guessed it, counting stars. While she counted, her mind started to wander, and she thought back on the last couple of weeks. During the last week, she had come down with something, some sort of cold or illness, which had rendered her nearly immobile. It was strange, because not even the local healers had ever seen anything like it. It was a wonder that the fever itself didn't kill her. Yet somehow, she managed to recover, and now usually only felt a little light-headed or nauseous.

Speaking of nausea… a wave of the feeling washed over her, making her stomach knot up painfully. Groaning quietly, she rolled onto her side and curled up, wrapping her arms around her midsection in an attempt to alleviate it. Jord took a deep breath, and relaxed a little when the nausea began to subside. The periods of nausea and dizziness were extremely random, she had no way of predicting when or where it would happen, or even why. There really didn't seem to be any reason for it, unless she was still sick. It wasn't as if that particular thought hadn't crossed her mind, she just didn't want to give it much thought.

It might make her sick again. You never know.

Jord sat up, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her knees. She bowed her head, then began taking deep, steady breaths. As she meditated, she imagined she was inhaling cool clean air, and exhaling dirty black smoke. Basically, she was mentally trying to clean out her system, bringing in the good and removing the bad. The technique usually helped her to calm her nerves and mind, leaving her feeling a bit more refreshed. But since she was still sick, she was lucky to feel the nausea subside.

Now her head was throbbing. "Great…" she grumbled, resting her head on her hands and pressing her elbows against her knees. Jord pressed the tips of her fingers against her temples, massaging them and hoping the pressure would make the pain go away. "I think I'm better off drinking those horrible tasting herbal teas." She paused, as if suddenly thinking about what she had just said. "You know, on second thought, I think I'll take the headache."

But that didn't mean she had to stay outside.

Slowly getting to her feet, Jord stretched, making sure there was no stiffness in her knees or back. Standing out on the roof a moment longer, her gaze returned to the sky. In a way, she envied Zin. He could fly, he was more than capable of taking off into the air and never coming back. But the cat-owl never did, and for that she was thankful. It showed undying trust, something that was rare even in Iso Han, especially after the war.

Just as she had opened the trap door, and was preparing to drop down into her room, she felt the air change. It was almost too strange to describe, but it was like the pressure was being altered suddenly. She could feel it in her head. Opening her jaw and yawning to relieve the uncomfortable feeling, she stood where she was and waited. Her head had started to hurt again, but she decided it was because of what had just happened.

Suddenly, and without any sort of warning, the affect on the air was reversed.

Jord grit her teeth and held her head in her hands, as if trying to keep her head from caving in or exploding or whatever it felt like it was about to do. She forced out another yawn before standing up straighter and turning around. Her gaze combed the rooftops of the small houses around her, looking for anything that was out of the ordinary. Her mind kept praying that it was just one of those weird flukes, something nature did to keep everyone on their toes. Her gut, however, was telling her something was likely to happen.

From just beyond the market place, in a somewhat uninhabited part of town, a plume of dirt and debris shot up into the air. The shockwave from the explosion shook the ground, causing Zin below to snarl. Jord could hear Hoz making a strange sort of screeching noise, something he did only when something terrified him. She cursed and jumped through the door, startling the poor cat-owl even more. Not even pausing long enough to apologize, she grabbed the two small dual hammers from their hooks on the wall, just above a pair of swords, then snatched up a pair of plated, clawed gloves and a pair of goggles with black crystal lenses as she passed through the door. The goggles were to protect her eyes, because she hated having to stop and rub dirt or sand out of them and by the spirits it HURT to have something in there. Having her sight as one less thing to worry about, she could focus all of her attention to fighting.

The gloves had been the result of an idea she had gotten as a child, after watching two warriors sparring unarmed soon after moving to Iso Han. It had been a childish thought really… "What if they had claws? That would be cool!" As she grew older, however, and saw many different types of weapons pass through the town, the thought had returned. With the help of her extremely skeptical (though willing) father, she created her unique weapons; it basically consisted of a pair of leather gloves, plated with metal on the tops of the fingers and thumbs and the back of her hands. Metal bands around each finger bone and the palms and rivets on the tops kept them secured to the leather. Leather padded, metal bracers were used to secure the gloves to the user, making it difficult to have them simply slide off. Sharp points covered the tips of the fingers, with very small blades similar to claws coming out in the "fingernail" area of the gloves. At first glance they looked like useless toys, but they provided extra protection to her hands and an added advantage to "unarmed" combat.

It was because of this that Nasu said Jord would one day be notorious for cutting corners and finding "unfair" advantages. She always said it with a smile, though.

Jord dashed out of the house as quietly as possible, already aware that the explosion should have awakened plenty of people. As she ran towards the mushroom cloud of dust, she slipped the dark goggles onto her head, pulled the gloves on her hands, and secured the bracers around her forearms. She was quickly closing the distance between herself and the source of the explosion, and likely the strange affect on the air she had experienced. Clenching a hammer tightly in each gloved hand, she skid around a corner and sprinted down the alley she came to, hoping that her target was in the small deserted square at the end.

Had Jord known what it was she was going to be confronting, she might have said to heck with it and simply gone to bed. Her pride, though, usually got the better of her, and her need to constantly prove herself often landed her in dangerous situations. However, none of those past "situations" had been as strange as this. Standing right there in the middle of the area was a boy close to her age, likely a couple of years younger. Like most of the people in Iso Han (it was actually more like "everyone else", now that she was thinking about it) he had a head full of dark hair. In the middle of the night it was hard to make out the actual color, but it was definitely dark. He was clad in neutral tones, gray pants and a tunic several shades darker, possibly black. His eyes, though… normally, eye color was nearly impossible to make out in the dark of night. But his were _glowing_. The color wasn't completely white; it seemed to be tinged with yellow or gold. The eerie result made her nausea come back, and the glow made her head hurt.

The boy's attention suddenly turned to her. He raised a hand and thrust it at her. She didn't see anything coming, and simply stood there, thinking it was a ruse.

Some invisible force slammed into her chest dead on, sending her flying backwards and into the stone wall of what she hoped was an empty house. Gasping, she sat there, stunned and finding it suddenly hard to breath with having the air knocked right out of her. She groaned, getting back to her oddly unsteady feet and propping herself up against the wall behind her. Having no idea as to what had hit her, she darted forward uneasily, bringing one hammer in front of her and holding one behind her.

The second attack hit the hammer first, causing the weapon to recoil and slam into her sternum. Having definitely felt that one, Jord dropped, coughing and spitting up what she was hoping wasn't blood. The ground to her right exploded, showering her with dirt and bits of rock. Jumping and rolling to the side, she forced herself to her feet and took off sprinting once again, trying to bring herself around the boy so she could nail him from behind. He was quick though, he managed to keep her in his sights. Whatever he was attacking her with, however, was landing just behind her, so at least his aim was off. Jord knew she wasn't going to be able to keep it up for too long, and if she ran out of energy before he did… well, she didn't want to think about it.

Coming to a screeching halt, the young fighter decided on a more straight forward approach. Keeping her hammers to the side to avoid having them hit her again, she ran towards her attacker a second time. Her keen eyes watched him as he drew back an arm, hand open and palm facing her. Just as his arm began to move forward, Jord hopped to the side and kept right on going. Fortunately, the attack missed, and the ground behind her and to the left exploded in a spray of pebbles. Running as fast as she could, Jord swung one of her hammers in a wide arch, aiming for her attacker's left shoulder.

Much to her surprise, he adapted very quickly. Snapping up his other hand, he swung at her. The force of his attack caught her in the stomach and sent her flying. The two or three seconds she was airborne had to have been the longest seconds of her life. Her airtime was cut short, though, when she hit another house and fell right through the dilapidated roof and into the one room building. Laying there for a moment, trying to catch her breath, she realized she was going to have some very impressive bruises if she walked away from this. It had been a long time since she had been in a fight of this magnitude, and she hadn't ever fought someone who attacked with some sort of invisible power. At least with other Benders, she would see the water or ice, and the fire and earth. It was almost like this one was fighting with the very air.

Jord blinked. "Impossible." She sat up slowly, feeling a strange stiffness settle into her shoulders. "He can't be Bending air. Nomads have been gone for over a century." She stood up, wincing. The thought wouldn't leave her head, though, and she decided she must be going crazy.

Then a thought occurred to her. The boy's attacks were practically invisible, she usually only got a brief blurry glimpse before the attack hit something. Yet, his attacks were kicking up quite a bit of fine dirt, and the particles clung to the air and floated where they were, seemingly unable to return to the ground. Whenever he attacked, the dust clouds would warp and the force would come out of the very middle of the swell. The idea that was forming in her head was risky, but her hope was that if she timed it right, she'd be able to see what was hitting her. Jord stumbled forward before finally regaining her balance, then pushed the rickety door open and started running again. Which was good, since the moment she left the doorway, the boy's attack hit the doorframe and nearly blew in the front wall of the small house.

Jord came to a sliding stop, changing her direction, then took off again, straight for the boy. The small square they were fighting in was by now full of the little floating particles, nearly completely blocking her vision. Thankfully, her goggles kept the dust out of her eyes. She saw the dust ahead of her surge suddenly, right where her head was going to be, and she dove forward, rolling back to her feet just as a blast of something (she was still denying he was Airbending) flew above her. Once she was running again, the boy's shadowy figure formed in the dust. Jumping to the side as another blast flew at her, she dropped one hammer and lunged at her target, swinging her plated fist at his head.

The feeling of her fist connecting with his head was, in her opinion, very satisfying. Even six years after the war, she still had it. It had taken her a while to bring it back up, but in the end she had won out. Her ego was quickly beating back how humble she had been feeling, but at the very back of her mind, she knew that once she woke up in the morning that humble feeling was going to be back. In the form of some very nasty bruises. Hopefully, that would be all she would wake up with.

A sudden flash of light nearly blinded Jord, even with the dark lenses covering her eyes. She yelped, surprised, and jumped back, completely forgetting the fact that she had just knocked out some kid a couple years her junior. The light flashed a second time, forcing her to stumble back. Her foot connected with something on the ground, and by the time her head hit the floor, she realized she had tripped over her own hammer. The pain in her head, which she had been able to ignore thanks to her adrenaline rush, returned with a vengeance, stabbing itself into the very center of her brain. Groaning, her hands grabbed her head and pressed, trying to force the migraine out of her skull and into any other part of her body.

'_Ah, much better than the boy.'_

"What?" There was a voice in her head. Where had that come from? She must be losing it, too much pain…

_'You're different… are you what we've been looking for?'_

"I'm going crazy, I'm hearing voices in my head-"

_'You are far from crazy, child. You ARE what we've been looking for. You are our key. You are divine. You are OURS!'_

Jord's body began to thrash uncontrollably, twitching and jerking violently. So many thoughts were going through her head, and yet as busy as her mind was under the strange attack she was completely aware of what was happening to her battered body. Her head felt like it was going to explode, her throat was on fire and her eyes hurt, she could feel blood coming out of her ears and nose and mouth and oh dear spirits the PAIN was just too much. Jord tried to scream, but the only sound she could make was a choking gurgle of a cry. Spitting up some more blood and realizing her vision was going dark. "Get out… of me…" She gasped, choking and spitting again. "Get out.. Just get out."

'_Let us help you, you have so much potential. Do you know your own po-'_

"Get OUT!" Jord thrashed again, this time of her own will, trying to remove whatever it was that was trying to invade her body. Whatever was inside her responded by attacking, forcing her body to seizure painfully, causing her head to smack into the hard dirt again. Stars flashed before her eyes, but at least the seizures had eased up. Her body jerked again, and in a desperate attempt to free herself, she raised her head and slammed it down onto the ground.

The light flashed a third time. The alien voice inside her head quieted, and she was relieved to feel a sudden calm, empty feeling replace it. The pain in her body was covered up by numbness. She could hear some people yelling, people running towards her and the unconscious boy nearby. But she didn't care. She was tired, and sore, and suddenly _very_ humble. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Just as she was drifting off, she saw the face of one of her neighbors. She could see him saying something, but she couldn't understand what it was he was saying. Blackness overcame her just as she felt hands grab her by the shoulders and legs and heft her up off the ground.


	8. Possibilities Pt One

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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She was hearing voices again. With her head pounding so hard, it was difficult to tell if they were echoing because they were inside her mind, or because of the concussion-like feeling. Trying to move (and finding it a challenge, she was so stiff and sore), Jord slowly opened her eyes. Her mind screamed at her as the sunlight hit her in her dilated eyes, berating her for being stupid enough to blind herself. She groaned and struggled to turn away from the light pouring in through the window.

"She's been sleeping for days… muttering something I can't understand…"

"Nasu, the healers said she would be alright. She just needs a lot of rest."

Jord could recognize the voices of her parents. They sounded worried. She tried to move again, and was rewarded with the same immobilizing, sore stiffness as before. Sighing quietly, her eyes closed again as she drifted back into a restless sleep.

While the beaten fighter slept, her parents were out in the main room, talking with a healer. "The sickness your daughter is suffering from" the healer was saying. "Is inside her mind. Her pride was destroyed in that fight, and the pain of humiliation is causing her body to attack itself."

"What can we do to help her?" Ronyn asked. The past couple of days had been hard for both of them. They couldn't get Jord to keep even soup down, and getting her to drink water was hard enough. The stress had done a number on the couple, and neither of them had a lot of energy to spare. Every moment was spent on Jord, who, even in her current state of health, was refusing to cooperate.

"Nothing." The healer shook her head sadly. "Just keep the swelling down, apply salves, try to get her to drink." She handed the couple two small jars. "These salves should help. All you can do now… is keep hoping. Pray her will to live is strong, pray that the pain of losing won't destroy her. She seems to be a very prideful person. Whoever or whatever attacked her and that young man was strong. They knew what they were doing." She bowed politely, taking a step back and letting herself out the door.

"What I don't understand is how Circe came out with more wounds than the boy…" Nasu slowly sat down in a chair. She looked so weak and frail, anyone could have mistaken her for an old woman.

"She must have been trying to defend him." Ronyn suggested as he sat down next to her. "Or, she underestimated her opponent. You know how big her ego can be."

"Someone should have been there sooner." Nasu was a strong, stubborn woman who refused to cry. But right now, it was all she could do to keep from cracking. "_We_ should have been there sooner."

Ronyn pulled his wife's chair closer with one arm, and wrapped the same huge arm around her shoulders. "Circe may be proud, but she's strong as well. She'll pull through this." Nasu just buried her head against his broad chest. "We just need to have faith in her."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Later that afternoon, Ronyn and Nasu decided to spend the day tending to Jord. Nasu passed the time mending the damage done to the vest Jord had worn in the fight, while Ronyn tried to get some water down their daughter's throat. "She seems to be able to swallow alright." He was saying. "I just can't seem to get her to wake up for longer than a few seconds. I'm not sure she's actually awake when her eyes open. But I think she's doing better."

Nasu simply nodded as she stood up. She had been extremely silent ever since the healer left, and it was starting to make Ronyn worry. She walked over to stand next to her husband, picking up a bowl from a small table Ronyn had put in the room earlier. The bowl contained just a little bit of soup, mostly broth, which Nasu hoped that Jord would be able to keep in her stomach. "Come on dear, try to drink this." She carefully lifted Jord's head and held the lip of the bowl against her mouth. The bowl tipped up slowly, the liquid inside causing Jord to cough and sputter. Groaning in protest, their daughter grimaced and turned her head to the side, muttering incoherently. Nasu sighed, setting the bowl down and taking one of Jord's hands in her own. "I wish we could do more for her." Ronyn could detect a slight quiver in her voice. "I feel so helpless."

"Don't be." Ronyn put one hand over hers, and the other on Jord's head. "We're doing our best."

"It doesn't seem like it's enough."

"It will pay off in the end, once she-" A loud knock at the front door cut him off. Grumbling, he grabbed his crutch and lumbered on out the bedroom door. Nasu watched him go, then returned her attention to the sleeping form in the hammock.

Out in the main room, Ronyn finally opened the door. "Ronyn, sir?" He was met by a young man somewhere in his mid-twenties. Rather muscular, dark hair, green eyes… but his appearance didn't interest him much at the moment.

"What?" Ronyn grunted.

"Well, I… I was the one who first found your daughter and the smith's son earlier this week."

"And?"

"I… I thought you may want to know something about what I saw, before the others arrived." He paused, looking uncomfortable under Ronyn's piercing, one-eyed gaze. Ronyn appeared to be listening, so he continued. "When I got to them, your daughter was still on her feet. She was talking to herself, or maybe to someone hidden." The man fidgeted as Ronyn's eye narrowed. "But, when I saw her reacting to whatever was attacking her…"

Ronyn raised an eyebrow when the man stopped talking. "What happened? What did you see?" He was starting to sound a little perturbed.

"I think I saw the air around her swirling. The air was carrying the dust, it was strange, almost surreal. I've never seen anything like it. The air kept picking up speed until she passed out."

"What are you getting at?"

The man would have made a face out of aggravation, but the fear of getting knocked across the street by the crippled ex-soldier prevented him from doing so. "You've heard the rumors, right? About the Air Nomads suddenly reappearing?" His answer was a silent, thoughtful nod. "It's happened right here in Iso Han too. The guards have tried to keep it quiet, but I know of at least two that are being held. Were being held."

"Were?" Ronyn was fully aware of what that phrase could mean, and not all of them were pretty.

"The Avatar is in town, sir. Since yesterday. He's trying to gather up the Airbenders."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Only three?" Aang almost sounded disappointed, like he was hoping for more. Before him stood three young teens, two girls and a boy.

"That we've stopped. There was an incident about a week ago, though." The guard next to him gestured towards the rest of the city. "The townsfolk took care of it, so we haven't been able to find that one."

"Do you know where they might be?" The Avatar was watching Katara as she was talking to the youngest girl, while carefully healing a couple of her bruises with her Bending.

"It happened in the slums. That part of town is unoccupied, for the most part, so a majority of the buildings are empty. The area around the market is populated, though."

"We'll look around there. Thanks." Sokka said. The guard saluted and left. Once he was gone, Sokka continued talking. "You know, Aang… we can afford to stay here for a little while, spend some time trying to find this Airbender."

"Yeah, I'm tired of traveling. It's almost worse than flying." Toph cut in from her spot near the doorway. She had been content to stay to herself lately, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to get involved.

"And we can work with these new Airbenders some more, too. There's plenty of space outside the city, and the Great Divide is about a day's walk away. No need to worry about canyon crawlers or anything."

"Watch out for platypus-bears."

"Not constructive."

Toph just shrugged.

"Yeah, we should rest a little… I know Appa would like a break." Aang was still watching Katara. She seemed to be able to make the younger Benders feel more comfortable and secure. Must be her maternal attitude. "I would like to work with them some more, actually. We could stock up on supplies, too. We'd need to, for a group this big." He nodded his head towards the Airbenders, who seemed to get along fairly well. They apparently formed their own little group, and Katara had said it was probably because they all had so much in common. Which was kind of creepy, now that he was thinking about it.

"Well, since we're staying here for a while, I'm going to go walk around town." Toph stepped away from the wall and turned towards the door. "I'll catch you all later."

"Want company? I'll come with you!" Zeph bounced over, excitement practically dripping off his voice. During the past several days, he had taken a keen interest in Toph, mostly trying to get her to pay attention to him. And as little boys often did, he annoyed the hell out of her to accomplish his goal. Since his skill in Airbending had grown so quickly, Bending made it all the more entertaining.

"That's a great idea. I'll come along as well." Katara had finished tending to the three Iso Han Nomads. It was also probably a good idea she volunteered to go with them, because someone had to keep Toph from chucking rocks at the Airbending boy.

"We can take care of these Nomads. Go have fun." Sokka grinned and waved good-bye.

Toph sighed. So much for getting some personal time.


	9. Possibilities Pt Two

This is a plot-heavy story, guys. I've always hated a story that seemed rushed, so I guess this could get to be pretty long. Just bear with me, though, I swear I'll make it worth it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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"So where are we going?"

"I don't know."

"Can we get something to eat?"

"If you have money."

"Toph!"

"What?!"

Katara sighed, and Momo chittered in agreement. Zeph had been asking questions since they left Aang and the others, and while she did admire Zeph's desire to learn, she could tell it was getting on Toph's nerves. It was only a matter of time before the blind Earthbender did something about it. "How about we go to the market? I heard they have some good shops."

"Whatever you say. And you!" Toph turned on Zeph like a volcano. "Stop asking me questions!"

Zeph was quiet for a moment. "Any chance I can pay you back or something?"

Toph threw her hands up in frustration, making a strange growling noise to emphasize it.

The four of them continued down the street, keeping to themselves along one side. Katara and Zeph's green garb and Toph's hooded robe prevented people from quickly and easily recognizing them. It was hard to blend in if people could figure out who exactly you were at first glance, and even harder to get things done since people would continue to stop you and ask questions or for help. Momo was somewhat recognizable as well, but he was content to stay in Toph's hood. Besides, the bright sun just seemed to make the day even hotter, especially since there wasn't even a hint of a breeze. Iso Han was very different from Ba Sing Se and Omashu, even Gaoling. It was a rural place, full of soldiers and their families and people that the war had forced to move. Once the war ended, the people just stayed. It was a very diverse community and unusually close knit, considering the financial and ethnic range of the citizens.

"This must be the market." Katara said, looking around at the intersection they had come to. The streets before them and on either side were lined with stalls and small tents, featuring different wares from the many different cultures that made up the city. Some venders specialized in clothing, others made and sold ornate containers and other items. Traders that came to the city brought in merchandise from all over the world; jewelry from the Water Tribes, produce from the Earth Kingdom, kitchen cutlery (as well as weapons for the soldier or collector) from the Fire Nation, even relics and antiques for those with expensive tastes and the money to back it up.

Toph stood still, quiet, a look on intense concentration on her face. After a moment, she raised a hand and pointed down the street to their left, towards what looked like a rather popular tavern. "That way. There's a lot of activity down there. Interested?"

"Why? It's just a bar." Katara wrinkled her nose. "From where I'm standing, it doesn't look too busy. Or clean."

"Doesn't matter, I just thought you'd want to help the Fancy Dancer with finding any of those weird Nomads."

"We're not weird…" Zeph grumbled.

"You are from where I'm standing."

"Alright!" Katara quickly intervened, knowing that Toph had no issues with messing with the boy. "We'll check out the bar. But I don't see how we can find any more Airbenders that way."

"It's a cultural hub for towns like this." Toph shrugged and started to walk off. "Good place to get information."

Zeph hung back, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Katara?"

"Yes?"

"Why'd she call Nomads weird?"

Katara frowned. "Aang's the only Airbender she's ever known, and he's hardly ever violent or aggressive. Aside from dire situations, she's never experienced a crazed Nomad." She paused, as if trying to find the right words.

"It's not our fault we acted like that. We couldn't stop!"

"I know, and deep down so does Toph. But since no one fully understands what's going on, we're not completely sure what to do or think. Just give her some time."

Zeph only nodded.

"Come on, slowpokes! Crowd won't stick around forever!" Toph could be heard yelling from down the street.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

She was dreaming. In her dream, she was on a boat. Ahead of her was a large island. From her position, she could see a huge stone keep. The few guards that patrolled the walls were dressed in white and gold armor. It looked safe, peaceful even; some of the guards seemed to lounge about. The gate to the fort stood wide open, as if welcoming anyone and anything to enter the safety of the stone walls.

The boat seemed to guide itself, without any help from her. It floated up to a small dock that seemed to just sort of blink into existence. Not even questioning its appearance, Jord stepped off her small craft and onto the pier. She felt somewhat dazed, as if she was walking in a thick fog, and her body appeared to have developed a mind of its own. Her legs carried her forward, ignoring her desperate attempt to control them. Before long, Jord simply stopped trying, allowing her body to go where ever it was it needed to.

Suddenly, as she drew closer to the fortress, a strange darkness started to creep down over the walls. It flowed like paint or thick ink, and the sheer depth of it's black color made the darkest night sky look pitiful. Everything the darkness touched turned to shadows and seemed to melt away. Even as she was, Jord could feel her heartbeat pick up the pace. Panicking, she forced her legs to obey her as she turned and ran, trying to get back to the safety of her boat. She opened her mouth to scream as a section of the shadow reached out to grab her -

Jord bolted straight up in her hammock, nearly flipping herself out of it. Panting, sweating, she took in one ragged breath after another as she looked around her room. A lamp was hanging near the door, unneeded in the middle of the day. Her sudden panic had startled Zin, but her mother was sound asleep in the chair next to her, Jord's nearly mended vest in her lap. Through the door, she could see her father seated in another chair, his back to her. From his posture, Jord decided he was either sleeping, or in deep thought. She carefully climbed out of her hammock, wincing painfully once she was on the ground. Keeping as quiet as possible, she hobbled around the room stiffly, finding a well-worn robe hanging on a peg and wrapping it around her shoulders. She limped over to the door, ignoring the resentful glare the cat-owl was sending her way.

Unsure of where it was she was going, she entered the main room and stood still, trying to think. Ronyn's sudden movement almost made her jump. "Circe?" His voice almost failed to register in her mind. The exhaustion in it nearly kept him from sounding familiar.

"What happened?" Even her groggy voice sounded alien to her. "What day is it? How did I get here?"

"We brought you here… after whatever happened a week ago."

"A week..?" Jord's confusion mixed with her lightheadedness. Trying not to stumble and fall over, she slowly sat down in the empty chair across from her father. "I've been sleeping for a whole week?"

Ronyn nodded. He looked so tired… "That was some fight you were in." His eye focused on her, making her feel uneasy. "What exactly happened?"

Jord blinked, still feeling dazed. "I can't remember…"

He leaned forward, his firm gaze never faltering. "Think, Circe. I need you to think. What happened?"

She frowned and closed her eyes. After a moment, she spoke. "I remember… an explosion. I think… I went to check it out." Jord paused, her eyes still closed. "There was someone there. He attacked me. I couldn't see what was hitting me." She opened her eyes. "His eyes were glowing…"

"He attacked you and the smith's son?"

"The smith's son?"

"You two were found there. Who attacked you?"

"There were only two… me and him." Her head was still hurting, but at least it was beginning to clear up. "When I knocked him out, there was this light… and this voice."

"So there were three."

Jord glared at her father. The action surprised him, almost made him angry. "I said there were only two, the voice was in my-" She clenched her teeth, then bit her lip, trying to calm herself down. "The voice was in my head. It said I was different." Her hand unconsciously went up to her hair.

Ronyn frowned. "A young man found you and the boy that night. He said the air was behaving strangely. Do you know what was causing that?"

"No."

"This man came to talk to me…" He took a deep breath. "He told me the Avatar is trying to gather up the Nomads."

"I thought the Fire Nation wiped them out."

"That's what we were lead to believe. But there are rumors going around that say they're somehow coming back." He paused and studied her. "That man told me it was like someone was Bending the air."

Jord looked skeptical. "What's this got to do with me?" Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "You don't honestly think-"

"I don't know. That's why I'm saying this now." He reached under his chair and pulled out a wooden box. Staring at it for a moment, thinking, he handed it over to her. "We found this with you. It was one of the things we were able to save when the Firebenders forced us to move. We've never been able to open it, so we don't know what's inside. Maybe you'll have better luck."

The box was about a foot long, maybe six or seven inches wide. Aside from a single swirl design on the lid, the container was plain. "It's light." Jord gave it a gentle shake and heard nothing. "Is it empty?" She knocked on it, and got a solid thump instead of a usual empty, hollow ring. Upon closer inspection, Jord saw there was a small hole at the end of the swirl on the lid. She couldn't see where the hole went, or how deep it was.

Ronyn shook his head. "We doubt it's empty, we just can't get it to open. We didn't want to damage anything." He shifted around in his chair. "We think it's from your birth parents."

Jord just stared at him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Katara and Zeph inched along behind Toph, who was shouldering her way through the crowded tavern towards the bar. While it didn't exactly stink, the crowd had managed to track in quite a bit of dirt, and footprints could be seen in the dust covering the floor. Most of the patrons were men, many looked like they could have been soldiers. "Hey, barkeep!" Toph called over the din of the crowd as she reached the bar. "Three of whatever deal you have." She sat down on one of the stools, kicking two more up for her companions.

"What's the special?" Zeph asked as he climbed up onto one of the stools. As if on cue, the bartender brought up three bowls, three empty cups, and a large pitcher.

Toph's eyebrow twitched. "Don't know. You tell me."

"It looks like…" Katara eyed the contents of her bowl warily as she sat down between Zeph and Toph. "Slop."

"Tastes fine to me." The Earthbender already had a spoonful of the stuff in her mouth. "Don't ruin it, just try it. It won't kill you."

Zeph just glanced over at Katara, then picked up his own spoon. Cautiously, he stuck the spoon into the gooey mass and lifted a glob of it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, his brow crunching together. "Hey… it really doesn't taste too bad."

Katara gave in. She picked up the last spoon, and in the same motion, had some of the aforementioned slop in her mouth. Like Zeph had said, it didn't taste bad at all. It was apparently a combination of potatoes and some sort of meat all mashed together with a handful of other vegetables.

The moment Katara swallowed, Toph's face twisted up painfully as she grabbed for her throat. She coughed and hacked, choking, and made a gurgling sound in her chest. Katara yelped and jumped off her stool, one hand going for her waterskin while the other reached for Toph. The cap of the skin was pulled off, and while Toph was clawing at her neck, Katara bent some of the water out to try to help her friend.

Slowly, but obviously, Toph's rasping coughs turned into amused chuckles. Before long, she was nearly falling out of her seat. Toph gasped for breath, trying to say something but unable to stop laughing long enough to do so. After a few seconds, Zeph realized what was so funny, and he began to crack up as well. Katara just stared at them, slack jawed, her bending water coiling and writhing in the air next to her. "You… you were playing a joke! You… Argh!"

That just made Toph laugh even harder. "Oh, I wish I could have seen the look on your face!" She said between gasps. "I bet it was priceless."

"I thought we were over this!" Katara scowled. She shoved her bowl back and grabbed the giggling Zeph by his shirt, bending her water back into its waterskin. "Come on, we're leaving."

Toph took a few deep breaths in an attempt to stop laughing. "Hold on, just hold on. I did say we could get information here. Give me a minute. Barkeep!" She motioned for the barman to come over, and the two began to talk. Not wanting to have another prank pulled on her, Katara released Zeph and turned to the door. Slipping through the crowd, she managed to make it to the entrance and the open air beyond. Katara found a spot in the shade to sit down, and there she waited. While she sat there, she found that she was somewhat intrigued by the people in Iso Han. They seemed extremely social, stopping to talk with one another even in the middle of their shopping. A couple of elderly beggars who sat nearby with a small child even freely talked with a young woman who had stopped to offer them something to eat. Despite how different everyone was, they all were able to exist in the same living space. It amazed her, because even in the great city of Ba Sing Se, the people weren't close. They were physically divided by the city's inner walls.

But here, the only wall that existed was the one that surrounded the town.

Katara focused her attention on the beggars nearby. Even a city like Iso Han had it's poor and destitute. She really felt bad for them, having never actually known what it was like to go without even the basics. Standing up, she slid a hand into the pouch on her belt as she made her way towards them. The child, a little girl with dirt all over her face, saw Katara first. She stared at the Waterbender for a moment before a smile finally appeared. The older couple, possibly her parents (or even her grandparents) looked up to see Katara approaching. They watched her carefully, the look in their eyes telling her that even Iso Han had people that were less than trustworthy. Katara removed her hand from her pouch, a few coins resting on her palm. "Here, I know it's not much," She held the coins out to the couple, who smiled graciously as they accepted them. "But hopefully it's enough to get a decent meal."

"Oh, thank you." The woman's smile never left her wrinkled, brown face. "Your generosity is greatly appreciated."

Katara smiled. "I'm just glad to help."

The man leaned closer to his companion, the little girl sandwiched between them. Maybe he was senile, or maybe he was actually making an attempt to keep whatever it was he was saying a secret. "She seems nice, just like that young man a couple months ago."

"Oh, that was a young lady. And we haven't seen her for a long time. I hope she wasn't involved in that horrible accident."

Katara continued to watch them. "Accident?"

"Yes. Just a week or so ago, something horrible happened just south of here." The old crone pointed behind Katara. "No one can seem to agree on a story. Some say it was an explosion or some such, others say it was a horrible fight. Someone even told us that those Fire Nation scoundrels were making a second attempt!"

She found it somewhat unlikely, but Katara kept that thought to herself. Maybe these people would be able to give her clues about the Airbender the guards missed. "How far south?"

"Just a few blocks, I'd wager. No one's been there since those two young men were found there." He replied.

"Do you know where I can find them?"

"One of them was this nice young man that usually comes to the market a couple times a month. He's so helpful, he helps his parents with their business-" The man seemed like he was about to start telling a story.

"Dear, that was a she. She wasn't a man."

He didn't seem to care. "He would bring his ostrich-horse to the market, all loaded up with clothing his mother made, and make trades and deliveries here and there. He helped us, you know, some ruffian was giving us such a hard time-"

"_She_ helped us, dear. _She_."

"Yes yes…" He only grumbled, then seemed to stare off for a moment.

Katara was quiet for a moment. "Well, do you know where I can find him… her?"

"We don't know where she lives, I'm sorry. We don't know who the second one was. But if you do find her, could you tell her we appreciate what she did for us?"

"Of course. Thank you." Katara smiled, waving to the little girl as she turned and walked back to the tavern. Just as she reached the door, Toph and Zeph came out, almost colliding with her. "There were two people involved in that Nomad incident last week. One used to come around the market a lot with an ostrich-horse to make deliveries for her parents, but I couldn't find out who the other one was."

"That's okay, the barkeeper was able to tell me. One is the son of a smith, they live in the back of their shop. It's around here somewhere." Toph still had her cup. "He said the other one frequented this place a lot, always with the ostrich-horse you mentioned. According to him, she's pretty handy with a couple of knives or hammers, a good fighter."

"Let's go tell Aang what we've found. We can start looking around later."

"If I were them, I'd be keeping to myself for a while. They're probably so confused and scared, they don't know what to do." Toph tossed her cup through the door and towards the bar. It bounced once and rolled to a stop on the counter. "If they don't want to be found right away, we won't be able to find them. These people are close, they'll protect each other. We have to let them come to us."

"Then we're going to be here for a while."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Jord continued to study the mysterious box her father had given her. Seated in her hammock, she turned the box over several different ways to examine each side. She couldn't find a way to open it to save her life, not without damaging it, and it was starting to get frustrating. It had been so tempting to try to pry it open, too, but she was worried she would break something. Even though she had never known of Ronyn telling a lie, or even a tall tale, she was having a hard time believing what he had basically said. Yes, she was different, but that didn't mean her strangely colored hair made her a member of a race of people that had been wiped out over a hundred years ago. It just made her an anomaly. And according to what any Bender would say, a Bender was born with their powers. It didn't just show up suddenly, like the flu.

Especially in such a violent, unAirbender like manner.

"This is pointless." Jord muttered, setting the box on the floor and trying not to wake up her mother. "Like I can just wave a hand at one of Zin's feathers and make the air move it." She gestured at one of the gray feathers laying on the windowsill in a comical, exaggerated martial arts gesture as if to prove her point.

The feather jumped up and floated down to the floor.

Zin gave her a dirty look.

Jord just stared at the feather, then snorted in irritation. "That would figure. Just leave the window wide open, Jord. You're a genius." She reached over and pulled the wooden shutter closed. As the stiffness started to settle into her shoulders again, she rolled onto her good side to go back to sleep, trying not to think about what just happened.


	10. Possibilities Pt Three

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_, _**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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"It's been three days. How come we can't find that last Nomad?"

Three days ago, Katara and Toph had managed to dig up a small scrap of information on any remaining Nomads, and Aang had used those days to work with his growing group of Airbenders. Today was a "free day" of sorts, where said Benders were given time for themselves to relax. This gave Aang some personal time, though he was far from relaxing.

"Aang, you need to remember that these Nomads didn't know what they were exactly until the past month or so." Katara had opted to spend the day with her friend. Toph was finally getting her own personal time, and while Sokka had grown quite a bit, sleeping was still a favorite hobby. "Toph was right; he or she is probably still very confused, maybe even scared. The people in this city know we're here, and they know how to protect each other. When this Airbender is ready, they'll come looking for us."

"You're right… you both are." Aang frowned thoughtfully. After a short pause, he continued. "Want to go for a walk? I haven't actually seen the city yet."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It felt good to be able to walk again. It had taken her a couple more days of rest, but she had been able to regain enough energy to be able to move around for more than a few minutes. The sun on her face felt good as well. The only real problem was that her mother refused to let her go anywhere on her own, even in the house. Jord tried not to let it annoy her, she knew it was because her mother mom was worried.

"Are you sure you're well enough? You don't need to come with me if you aren't feeling up to it."

"I'm fine, really. I'm feeling much better." Jord tightened the saddle on Hoz's back, straining to keep from looking as tired as she really was. It was amazing what several days of nothing but sleep could do to a person. She wasn't used to feeling this weak.

Nasu looked unconvinced. "If you're feeling alright… then I suppose I can't stop you. But I don't want you to overdo it." At that, she took away the bundle that Jord had picked up and secured it to the saddle herself.

"I can handle it. Honest." Trying not to make herself dizzy, she turned and picked up another bundle before Nasu could get to it. She strapped the clothing down as she kept talking. "I just have a bit of a headache, that's all. I can manage to lead Hoz, I just can't take another day of sleep. I'll go crazy."

"I worry about you, Circe. When you were brought home that night…" Nasu bit her lip. "You were in terrible shape. Bruises all over, blood on your face and in your hair…" Unable to help herself, she pulled Jord into a tight hug, causing her daughter's head to swim. "I was so scared we were going to loose you, even the healers said that-"

"Please stop worrying! I'm okay." Jord returned her mother's hug. "I'm up and moving, and eating. I'm better now."

"But the healers-"

"Were wrong. See?" Jord wiggled her fingers, shuffled her feet, even opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. "Everything's fine. You know what Grandpa used to say; people like me bounce."

Nasu studied Jord's face for a moment before a slight grin showed up and she visibly relaxed. "Alright, you win. But you're only leading Hoz, understand?"

"It's a deal." Jord then made a face when Nasu took away the last roll of clothing. There was just no way to make the woman completely cooperate.

It didn't take the two very long to finish loading up the ostrich-horse's saddle. Before long, Jord and Nasu were on the street, leading a somewhat aggravated Hoz towards the market. The poor animal was carrying more weight than usual, simply because deliveries hadn't been made while Jord was recovering. While they walked, Jord couldn't help but notice that there was an unusual number of people out and about. It was like the whole city was buzzing with massive amounts of activity. "What's going on? I know I've been out of it for a while, but it isn't the anniversary of the war. What've I missed?"

Nasu was quiet for a moment. "The Avatar is in town. Did Ronyn tell you he was here?"

"I'm not sure. I know he told me the Avatar was trying to gather up Air Nomads… is he really finding any?"

"From what I hear, he is." Nasu reached out and took Jord by the hand, almost protectively. "He's been in Iso Han for three or four days now. Do you want to go see him?"

"No." Jord growled, suddenly feeling a bit angry. "I don't care about what people say, I've got nothing to do with this. I just picked the wrong fight, that's all." Her hand tightened subconsciously before she forced it to relax. "I'm just someone who had a very humbling experience. Nothing more."

"I know your father gave you that box." Nasu said quietly. "I just want you to know that no matter what choice you make, you're _our_ daughter."

"Oh, for the love of-"

They were interrupted by excited shouts and shrill laughter. Jord noticed a group of children in the alleyway they were just passing, playing some sort of game using Earthbending. From where she was standing, it looked like they were trying to see who could invent the best move. She envied them for their talent, much like she had envied her parents as a child. "Not bad, for children." Nasu said off-handedly. Even Hoz was watching. "They'll be good when they grow up."

Jord just grunted.

As they turned to walk away, Nasu noticed someone approaching the kids. She stopped instinctively, almost causing Jord to run into her. "I wonder who that is." Nasu said to herself, watching the new arrival. She was shorter than Jord by a few inches, with black hair that hung down her back in a loose braid. Because her eyes were clouded over, it was difficult to tell what color they were. Possibly blue, maybe even green. The children immediately gathered around her, buzzing with talk and energy. At first, the woman looked confused, but after a few seconds a small grin crawled across her face.

"Hey, I thought you wanted to go to the market." Jord grumbled as she adjusted her hold on Hoz's reigns.

"I do, but I want to watch this. That woman seems familiar." Nasu was almost completely focused on the group in the alley. Feeling a bit resigned, Jord simply leaned back against the ostrich-horse.

The young woman talked with the small crowd around her, apparently asking questions and answering them in turn. At one point, several of the kids pointed in a direction south of them, towards the market and the near-deserted slums beyond. The woman said something, and the children clapped and bounced around. Whatever she said, they apparently liked it quite a bit, and every single one of them stepped back as if to give her room.

Taking a steady horse stance, she gestured calmly with her hands. Small chunks of earth pulled themselves out of the ground, and she Bent them around her body, spinning them through the air. She pulled up more rocks and covered herself with them, forming some for of armored suit. Peeling the rocks off in flakes, she shoved them back into the ground before gesturing again. Pulling her hands apart as if trying to pry something open, she ripped open the ground and dropped into the hole. The moment she disappeared into the earth, the ground swirled together and smoothed over. A split second later, she emerged from the dirt without a hair out of place. Even as the crowd of children clapped and cheered for more tricks, she kicked at the ground and sent small waves across its surface.

"She's good." Nasu sounded impressed. "She's young, too. Can't be older than twenty, I'd say."

"She's a show-off." Jord scoffed.

"Pot, I'd like you to meet kettle."

"Very funny. Where are you going?" Jord started after her mother. "I thought you just wanted to watch!"

"I'm curious. I think I know who that is."

Jord just groaned, tying Hoz's reigns to a post before following Nasu. "I doubt we've met."

"I never said we did." Nasu kept walking, catching the attention of a few of the children. "I just said I think I've heard of her. Excuse me!" She called out to the young woman, who stopped in the middle of another Bending move.

The Bender turned and stared in their direction with sightless eyes. "What? I'm busy?

"I was wondering if I could get your name."

"Who wants to know?"

"I would. I'm Nasu, and that is my daughter Circe." Nasu motioned towards Jord, who had apparently decided to linger closer to Hoz.

"Nice name." The woman smirked.

"Let's hear yours, then." Jord snapped back, ignoring Nasu's warning look.

The woman was quiet for a moment, as if in deep thought. "My name is Toph."

"Toph…" Nasu murmured thoughtfully. "Toph Bei Fong? The Avatar's Earthbending Teacher?"

Jord felt like she swallowed lead.

Toph appeared to look at them curiously, despite the fact she was blind. "Yeah, that's me."

"If I may. What is a Bending Master like yourself doing in a backwater town like Iso Han?"

"The Avatar's here on business, I just tagged along."

Jord knew exactly where this was going. "I'll be at the tavern." She scowled, stalking back to Hoz to untie his reigns. Without even looking back, she disappeared out into the street.

"She's a bit of a grouch." Toph said off-handedly.

"It's been a rough week for us." Nasu frowned. "What business does the Avatar have here? Rumors are he's been finding Airbenders all over the place."

"We've got a little flock." It was obvious to Toph that Nasu was suddenly uncomfortable, or even worried. "Is there something wrong?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Nasu and her daughter managed to make nearly every single one of their deliveries that afternoon. It wasn't quite evening by the time they got home when Jord realized her mother's overall attitude had suddenly changed. Something was going on, and it was starting to irritate her. Finally, she gave into her growing curiosity and confronted Nasu about it. "Alright, what's going on? You're acting awfully… secretive." Jord squinted at her mother suspiciously. "What are you trying to hide?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nasu said innocently as she bustled about the small kitchen area. She was brewing tea and making dinner, but in larger amounts than normal. In fact, she was using the pricey tea. That usually meant they were having company.

She might as well have polished their non-existent silver.

"You're brewing expensive tea. The house is tidier than normal. Dad is trimming his beard! Who's coming over?"

"No one. Now go change your clothes. And for goodness sake, comb your hair!"

"I thought it was well known that my hair does what it wants."

"Circe…" Nasu's tone sounded dangerous.

"But I'll see what I can do."

"Fair enough. Now hurry, your father moves faster."

"You keep me out of this!" Ronyn could be heard yelling from the other room. He wasn't happy about being told to trim his beard, company or no.

Jord just shook her head and wandered back to her room. She knew something was up, she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. Zin watched her carefully as she hunted down some clean clothes and a pair of sandals. She was feeling a little lightheaded, but she ignored it, thinking it was because she had been moving around all day. As she stripped, she paused to inspect herself for bruises. Most of them had finally begun to fade, although the one in the middle of her chest was still a nasty black and green color. It was a painful reminder of her late-night encounter with spirits knew what, and at the thought she looked at the guilty hammer disdainfully. At least the other large bruise was fading, though it was still smeared across the right side of her back. She mentally cringed at the memory of falling through a roof. It still hurt to lay on her right side. Jord felt lucky to have avoided broken bones.

Pulling a clean shirt over her head, then a pair of pants, Jord turned around and faced Zin. The cat-owl hadn't even moved. "How's this?" Zin just blinked at her, then started to preen his feathers. Jord reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, only to have it stick up defiantly. "I don't think I can do anything about that." The animal sneezed at her and turned away. "Same to you, crab-fish." She stuck her tongue out at him while she slipped on the sandals. As she turned towards the door, Jord continued to think about who it was that was coming over. The worst it could possibly be was that damn Xahn, in which case she'd just push him around a second time.

She hadn't even heard of him in nearly a month. Of course, if she were him, she wouldn't talk about being beaten up by a girl, either.

Jord knocked on her wooden bedside table as she passed it.

Just as she reached the door, she heard a knock from the front door. Jord paused and listened as one of her parents answered it. "Oh, thank you for coming, it's an honor to have you here with us. Please, come in." She could hear her mother talking, but no verbal response from their mystery guest. Footsteps approached her door, and Jord stepped back as it slid open to reveal her mother's somewhat impatient face. "Come on, dinner's ready. What about your hair?" Jord shrugged, and the older woman sighed in response. "Well, come on then. And no attitudes, understand?" Nasu disappeared, likely for the kitchen again. Jord lingered a second longer in her room, an apprehensive feeling gnawing on her mind, before shaking it off and stepping out of her room.

She was barely inside the main room when she saw who their guest was, and Jord stopped so hard she almost knocked herself over. A strange, alien feeling of resentment came over her, only to be replaced with a malicious sense of betrayal. It hurt in a way, to feel as though one or both of her parents had gone behind her back this way. It wasn't because their company was occupying _her_ chair, either.

It was Toph Bei Fong.


	11. Buttkick ala Toph

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of _**Circe (AKA Jord)**_,_**Nasu, Ronyn, **_and _**Zeph**_.

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"I'll have dinner on the roof." The venom in Jord's voice surprised even herself. She snatched up her bowl and cup, ignoring Nasu's attempt to reach out to her. Trying to make a point by glaring at their blind Earthbending guest, she stomped off towards her room without another word.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, as if stunned by the way Jord had acted. "Nice family." Toph said, unmoved by Jord's lack of hospitality.

Nasu sighed. "I don't understand why she's acting like this. It's not like her."

"Her heartbeat sped up when she stepped out of her room. I doubt she was pleased to see me. She could even consider me a threat."

"But you haven't done anything to her."

"Circe isn't stupid, Nasu." Ronyn said as he hobbled over to his chair. "She knows who Toph is, and she knows what we're thinking by our inviting her over here."

"You think she might be a Nomad." Toph raised an eyebrow, though it was more of a statement than anything else.

"Well…" Nasu took a breath, pausing just long enough to pick up the remaining bowls. She continued to speak as she moved things from the kitchen to the small table. "A little over a week ago, Circe was in a fight that happened in the slums. She talked to Ronyn about it the other day."

"According to her, the person she fought had glowing eyes." Ronyn explained. "We thought there were three people involved, but we only found her and a young man there."

"Airbender." Toph said pointedly. "The first one we found had glowing eyes, and so did the ones in Omashu. None of them know who their real parents are, either, or they're homeless. If Circe's your real daughter, I wouldn't worry about it too much." Toph's words were followed by an uneasy silence. She immediately hoped what she was about to say wouldn't be true. "She's not your real daughter, huh? You adopted her."

"Yes… yes, we did. We found her in a port village just south of our old farm, we used to make monthly visits there. She was in this tiny little boat nudged up against some rocks." Nasu sounded nostalgic. "We searched the whole town looking for her parents, but no one claimed her. So, we took her back with us. She's got the strangest color hair, though."

"I couldn't tell, really, doesn't make one difference to me." Toph snorted.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude… but I've never seen someone with hair the color of gold. It's like…" Nasu paused, trying desperately to find a way to describe it so that Toph could understand it better. "It's like finding one single piece of diamond in an enormous pile of coal. They come from the same source, but it's so easy to find and you're only likely to find it once."

"I see. Just like everyone else and made of the same stuff, just so different that she sticks out in any crowd." Toph nodded as Nasu spooned out food for everyone.

"Exactly." Ronyn agreed. "However, she doesn't act like what an Air Nomad is supposed to. She's got a bit of a ruthless streak to be honest, and if you didn't know her you'd think she didn't care one bit about other people. Some of the soldiers who she helped train commented on how she can fight a "damn dirty game" as they said. Though in the end, I suppose it helped with fighting against some of those Fire Nation soldiers. But she really does care for other people, it's just hard for her to show it."

"I don't mean to offend, but that almost sounds Fire Nation." Toph smiled to show she was kidding. "That does set her apart from the Airbenders we've been finding. From what I can tell, most of them wouldn't put up much of a fight if their lives depended on it. They may just turn tail and run." She picked up her chopsticks to begin eating.

"What do we do if she is a Nomad, though? I don't want to loose my daughter." Nasu sat down, but didn't touch her food.

"We've never forced anyone to come with us. They all came on their own free will. Heck, one of them was convinced to come with us by his own mother." Toph spoke through a mouthful of food. "If you want, I'll see about arranging a meeting with your family and the Avatar, maybe we can figure something out. But you can't force her to do anything, she may not even believe the news of Airbenders coming out of hiding. If she is a Nomad, she'll need time to come to terms with it. She seems like she's got a hard head."

Nasu could only manage a sad smile at that.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was quiet on the roof. The silence helped her to clear her mind and calm herself. Jord set down the empty bowl, took a sip from her cup, and focused her gaze on some invisible point on the horizon. Guilt had quickly replaced anger, and it was keeping her dinner from actually settling in her stomach. She knew she had acted out of line, but she had been so angry.

Jord shook her head. It was difficult for her to understand why exactly her mother had invited the Avatar's friend over. "I'm not a Nomad…" She said out loud, as if hearing it would make all the difference. "I'm just caught up in something I have no business in. Just stuck my nose where it didn't belong."

'_**Doubt clouds the mind…'**_

"No. Go away." Jord growled. The cup clattered to the roof, the liquid inside spilling across the rough surface. Her hands came up to her head in an attempt to block out the voice. "You're not real. You're just in my head… my mind just made you up."

'_**We're so much more than that.'**_

A whimper escaped her mouth. If she had been standing next to herself, one would have decked the other. Something was probing at her mind, she could feel it. It was like there was something MOVING inside her skull. Jord could only curl up on her side and whimper once more.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Toph stopped suddenly in the middle of chewing. She frowned and tilted her head to one side, then shifted her feet just a little. Something was different… wrong in fact. "How do you get on the roof?"

"There's a door in the ceiling of Circe's room. Why?" Nasu put down her cup, a questioning look on her face.

"Something's wrong with your daughter." Toph stood up quickly and headed for the door to Jord's room. "Help me get up there."

Ronyn and Nasu jumped up and followed Toph into the small room. Zin was pitching a fit, yowling and hissing and baring his teeth at the ceiling. Ronyn reached up with his crutch and pushed against the trap door, then frowned when it didn't budge. "She must be on the door. I can't open it from this angle."

"Then I'll open it." Toph had no reserves about this. She moved into a sturdy stance, shifting her feet and bringing her hands up to chest level. "I'll apologize in advance if I break the door." Toph brought up her right foot, slammed it down, and quickly thrust her hands into the air. The couple felt the ground shift as a pillar of rock burst out of the stone floor, colliding with the door above them and tearing it right off the hinges. The three Benders heard a yelp, followed by a thump and a curse, and Toph had to struggle to keep from smiling as she lowered the pillar. "I'll be right back. If you think she's a Nomad and she hasn't gone psycho yet, this could get ugly. I'll try not to hurt her." She jumped up onto the pillar without waiting for an answer, then brought herself up through the hole in the ceiling.

Toph found Jord near the edge of the roof, on her knees and clutching her stomach. She could feel her heart racing, and her body was still shaking. "Can you hear me?" Toph kept close to her pillar, more than willing to leave Jord where she was. "Circe, are you alright? I need you to answer me."

"Stay away from me." Jord groaned, hardly moving much from her crouched position.

"Your parents are worried. Stand up so I know you're okay."

"I'm fine, go away."

"You're lying. Get up."

"No."

"I said get up."

"I said no!" Jord suddenly lurched to her feet, spinning around and thrusting a fist towards Toph.

Instinctively, the Earthbender threw up a stone wall from the roof. She felt the impact, and in retaliation she punched the wall, sending a chunk of it flying towards Jord. Anticipating her opponent's dodge, she sent two more sections of the wall after the first. She heard one connect, likely with Jord's stomach, and felt the vibrations as Jord landed on the street below.

Toph followed close behind, jumping down and almost landing on Jord. There was something different about this fight, like some important piece was missing. As she launched another wave of projectiles at the crazed Bender, she tried to figure out what it was. When she had helped in the fight against Zeph, his attacks had been mostly at random; he hadn't actually been aiming, just sort of firing off orbs haphazardly. But as she was forced to dodge Jord's counter attack, she realized something.

She was aiming. It wasn't a bad job, either.

Jord didn't seem to be crazy at all.

This thought made Toph extremely angry. She brought up two slabs and angled the edges together, making a large wedge. The sharp point split Jord's next blast in half. Toph sent one slab flying after Jord, then broke the second in two and launched those as well. As planned, Jord stepped aside to avoid the initial shot, only to be caught by the wide side of one of the other pieces. It slammed into her, flinging her back into the wall of a nearby house, after which she bounced off and hit the ground. Toph quickly ripped open the earth, allowing it to swallow all but Jord's head. "Alright, I don't know what your deal is, nor can I tell if you have glowing eyes." She could feel Jord trying to struggle, but the earth wasn't moving. Toph stomped towards Jord and kept talking. "But I'm tired of your attitude. I think someone needs to knock that out of you, what do you think?" She didn't wait for an answer. Toph slammed a foot into the ground, causing it to heave and launch Jord into the air.

For a moment, Toph couldn't locate her enemy. A frowned appeared on her face as she began to feel as though she had stomped too hard. She quickly squelched that idea, though, when she felt some faint vibrations. Several blocks away was the city wall, and at the very top was the crater that Jord's landing had made. Toph sprinted towards the wall, fully intending to put an end to the fight.

The ground in front of her suddenly exploded, showering her with a spray of dirt and small rocks. Toph caught the dirt, bent it together into one huge mass, then thrust her hands forward and threw it in Jord's direction. Behind her, the earth shook again. It wasn't Earthbending, though, as the vibrations didn't originate from the ground itself. It was simply the result of a surface impact; Jord was definitely Airbending, and she was being far too aggressive for that.

Toph dodged another blast, finally reaching the earthen wall. While climbing up the wall would have been the most obvious choice, it just wasn't safe with Jord firing off air blasts from the top. So instead of simply bringing down that section of the wall and likely causing a little damage to the buildings around her, Toph did something almost completely unexpected.

She walked right into the wall like it was water.

Jord stopped mid-attack the moment Toph disappeared. She frowned, confused, and lowered her hand, the air swirling back to it's natural state. Never before had she seen something like that, and in her calculating state she failed to notice the tiny tremors coming up the wall.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"This city's not too bad." Aang commented as he and Katara meandered down the street. "Everyone seems friendly."

"It's a nice place. Most of the people have a strong bond, they've all been through the same hardships."

The two continued to walk on in silence. During the course of the day, they completely explored the section of town they were staying in, as well as the marketplace. Now, with the sun setting, their plan was to end the day with dinner. Fortunately for Katara, Aang didn't choose the tavern. "I wish all cities could be like this, supportive and peaceful. Even their wall isn't that high, it's nothing compared to the one around Ba Sing Se." He continued, walking slowly beside his friend.

"Ba Sing Se does have a pretty big wall."

At that moment, Aang's gaze drifted up to study the city's forty foot wall. He stared at it for a moment, and just as he started to look away he noticed something. A small plume of dust had suddenly appeared near the top of one portion of the wall. Aang's eyes narrowed as he tried to focus on it. "Katara… do you see that?"

Katara frowned and followed his gaze. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she nodded in reply. "I see it. What happened there?"

"I'm not sure…" Aang frowned, then suddenly brightened up. "Let's find out!" He took off, running straight for the wall. Katara stood there for a moment, then slowly shook her head and chased after him. She didn't have a good feeling about it, but Aang looked so hopeful. At times he could act like he was still a naïve twelve year old boy. Sometimes it bothered her, but she was glad the war hadn't changed him as much as it had changed others.

As they drew closer to the wall, Katara watched as a huge lump of dirt rocketed towards the dust cloud. "Aang, I think Toph is already there!" She struggled to keep up with the much faster Bender.

"We better hurry, then!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

If Toph hadn't been completely covered by the rock wall she was trying to climb through, she might have laughed at the thought of Twinkletoes showing up so late. However, she was also somewhat occupied with trying to move up the wall without giving herself away. It took a bit of effort and patience, as she had sort of made the move up on the fly, but she was able to move the stone down and around her body to pull herself up. If she did it right, Jord would never see her coming.

Very clever, in her entirely biased opinion.

As Jord's vibrations grew stronger, Toph prepared herself to spring. She had to take her out before Aang showed up, because he wouldn't be able to stomach it. Taking a deep breath, Toph thrust her hand up and through the rock, managing to grab Jord's ankle. By the way Jord's heart suddenly jumped, she knew she had taken her by surprise. Giving the ankle a hard twist as she emerged from the wall, Toph lifted her up and over, tossing a startled Jord right off her perch and down to the forest outside the city. The sneak attack was answered with a rather violent curse, which Toph found amusing to no end. Having lost "sight" of her opponent once again, she stood still to catch her breath, feeling rather pleased with herself.

"Toph!"

'_Darnit.'_ "Aang!" An unusually large and obviously exaggerated grin plastered itself onto her face. Toph turned around just as Aang cleared the top of the wall with Katara in tow. "So nice of you to show up!"

"Where's the Airbender?" Aang couldn't have hidden his excitement from Toph if he had tried. "Where'd he go?"

"She," Toph said, pointing down to the trees below. "Is down there."

"Is she okay?"

"No doubt about it. She's different from the others, I bet she wasn't crazy at all." Saying it out loud just made it more aggravating.

"How do you figure that?" Katara raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, she was aiming for one. She was actually putting up a good fight. Unlike crazy boy down there-"

"Were her eyes glowing?" Aang interrupted quickly, nearly dancing in place.

Toph just stared at him silently.

"Oh… sorry. Nevermind, got a bit ahead of myself."

"I'd say so." Toph turned away from them and faced the forest. "I was talking with her parents before this kicked in. She was one of the people involved in that "incident" everyone keeps talking about. Her parents suspected she was part of this whole Nomad business and they wanted help, because they didn't know what else to do." She pointed behind herself. "I want someone to go back and make sure her parents are okay. Just follow the craters, there's a small stable behind their house. Her name's Circe."

"What about you?" Katara asked.

"I promised them I'd help. I intend to keep that promise."

"Then I'm coming with you." Aand stepped up to the edge of the wall. "I want to make sure she's alright."

"She will be."


	12. Drawing Lines

So I know updates haven't been all that regular, but I've had to give the story some though and figure out where it is I want it to go. At first I thought I had it all fleshed out, but the more I thought about it the more empty if felt.

It is now an ongoing project. If you do not like long stories or heavy plot, and you're still reading this, you may need to find something else. While it will focus on Jord, she's really only secondary to the story itself. I'm actually having fun with the whole thing.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from Avatar, nor will I make a profit from this work of fiction. I claim nothing besides the plot in this story and the characters I've created. The list thus far is_**Circe**__**(AKA Jord)**__**Nasu**__**Ronyn**_and _**Zeph**_.

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Aang and Toph trekked through the trees carefully, all available senses open for any sign of Jord. The forest was silent; nothing moved, nothing breathed, nothing made a sound. It was like the woods had frozen in anticipation, too scared to move should it somehow affect the outcome. "Are you sure she landed here?" Aang asked as he climbed over a log.

"There's a spot about twenty feet ahead." Toph was slowly picking her way through the dense foliage. "The ground was disturbed there, but I'm not picking up anything else."

Aang stopped short. "Nothing? She's dead?!"

"No, not dead. I'd be able to locate a body." She scowled. "I mean I can't find her. She's moved."

"But she's out here, right?"

"Somewhere. Don't know where, though, but she's quick. I don't know many people who'd get up that quick after being thrown off a wall."

"Well, you know, Nomads can make air currents help soften their landing and-"

"I know. Shut up, or we'll give ourselves away. I don't know about you, but I don't want to go through that again. That was all sorts of unnecessary work." Toph quickly interrupted him as they finally reached the spot Toph had detected. A significant disturbance in the ground in the form of a shallow depression told Aang that the other Bender had indeed been there, but beyond that he couldn't be sure of. She was gone, but after the thrashing Toph had insisted she had subjected her to, she couldn't have gotten that far.

The Avatar frowned. "Where would she have gone?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was a strange feeling, looking outwards while her body moved on its own. The sensation of being under someone else's control was so unreal, almost like a dream. Only unlike a dream, she could actually feel the pain, such as the burning feeling in her chest from the lack of oxygen. "Please stop, this hurts. I just want to catch my breath." She croaked out. At least she could still talk out loud.

'_**Wait until we get to the wall of your city. They're chasing you!'**_

"If you hadn't attacked the Earthbender, this wouldn't have happened. Should you be the one in charge here?"

'_**We know what we're doing!'**_

Jord fell silent at that. The whole situation was so weird, it was all she could do not to try to fight back. In reality, it was curiosity that prevented her from trying to put her foot down. If the voices in her head were from the ones responsible for what had been happening, she wanted to get a better understanding of the thing she had inadvertently pitted herself against.

The thing was, the entity in her mind was being pretty careful about what it was doing. So far, the only truly stupid thing it had done was physically attack Toph. Which, to be completely honest with herself, she may have done on her own, as she was fairly certain she had helped her controllers. One good thing, though, was that despite the fact that these voices were originating within her head, they couldn't read her mind. Jord knew for a fact that if she had been in their position and had picked up on the number of colorful terms she had been spitting at them from the safety of her own thoughts, she could have done something about it.

The burning in her lungs was beginning to add to the growing ache in her body. It was starting to be a bit too much for her. "Listen if we don't stop, I'm going to kick you out."

'_**You don't know what you're doing! Don't be fooli-'**_

Jord finally managed to put up a mental wall. Spirits, she had been trying to do that since they started talking to her on the rooftop, and it had been getting on her nerves. As she struggled to regain control of her own body, her feet caught on something and she took a dive. While she didn't quite have power over herself, she still felt the impact as a rock slammed into her gut, effectively knocking the wind right out of her. Her body jerked and trashed as she wrestled for control, even as the sharp probing feeling returned to her brain. It was too hard to fight both at once. "I won't be a tool anymore." She growled, shaking her head as if to free herself. "If you were as right as you say you are, you wouldn't be trying to control me!" Jord physically recoiled as a freezing pain stabbed itself into the center of her brain.

'_**You aren't strong enough to fight us on your own.'**_The voices were making a comeback. '_**You know that, and so do we.'**_

She wasn't about to give up. "You'll be controlling a corpse before I give up." Still squirming around on the ground, Jord struggled to raise her head off the dirt.

'_**Do you want to protect your family?'**_The voices asked, seemingly in a last ditch attempt to procure control of their host. '_**Would you like to see your real parents?'**_

Jord stopped. She couldn't help it, and she desperately wished she could muster up a lie. "My parents?"

'_**Your parents are alive. Do you want to find them?'**_They paused as a shadow passed between her and the moon. Her gaze drifted up to see a birdlike form circling above. '_**We'll be in touch. Now that the Avatar has found you, he'll try to stop us. He's done it once before.' **_She could feel the resentment in the voices. '_**Work with us. We'll lead you to your true parents. Think on our offer.'**_

The presence seemed to slowly slip away, like water through the cracks of a jar. Exhaustion settled over her like a heavy blanket as the form above swooped lower. Jord tried to get up, or even keep her head off the ground, but possession apparently took quite a toll on a person's body. She knew she couldn't fight it off anymore. A second later, all she knew was a hazy darkness.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

He saw it, he was positive he did. It was only for a split second, but Aang swore he had seen a pair of lights down in the trees. He flew lower until the tops of the trees were almost touching his stomach. It was hard to see past the branches while flying, he knew he would have to land. Spotting a gap in the treetops, he spun up and folded in the wings of his glider, allowing gravity to pull him down through the branches. He bent the air to cushion his landing, then proceeded to look about the area.

It was times like this that he wished he could see with Earthbending. Aang stepped carefully, keeping an eye out for anything that could tell him where this other Airbender was. A small part of him was worried that Toph had hurt her badly, and this caused him to feel somewhat disappointed in the younger Bender. But he understood, in a way. The differences between their bending and fighting techniques was actually the first thing he learned from her. It gave him a better understanding of the more stubborn Earthbenders, and even granted him a little more patience when it came to Toph's antics.

Toph's voice suddenly cut into his thoughts. "She's over here!" Aang turned and dashed towards his friend, easily clearing the large rocks and occasional fallen tree that was in his path. He found Toph kneeling over a figure that was propped up on a large stone. Realizing this was one of Iso Han's missing Airbenders, he slowed to get a better look. She appeared to be only a year or two older than Toph, somewhat wiry with a little muscle definition. In a contest of physical strength, though, he was more willing to bet on Sokka or Toph than this individual. The first thing he actually noticed, though, was the color of her hair. He had been all over the world, but never before had he seen someone with the hair the color of sand. If she didn't walk around in some sort of head attire, anybody could pick her out of a crowd.

His second thought was that the peacetime following the war had been too kind on her. She needed some more muscle. It was entirely possible that the dark was playing with him, but he had strong doubts about that.

"Is she alright?" Aang was unsure of the answer he was going to get. He couldn't tell what sort of injuries she had sustained, much less whether or not she was breathing.

"She should be. I'm picking up a heartbeat, but I can't wake her up." Toph replied disdainfully.

"You can't?"

"It certainly isn't for lack of trying, trust me." She half-heartedly knocked on the unconscious Bender's head, and merely got an incoherent groan in response. "I've already beat the snot out of her once, I don't want to have to do it again just to get her up."

"I thought you said she had put up a pretty good fight." Aang gave her a strange look, even though he knew she couldn't actually see it.

"And that's the other thing, Aang. I don't trust her." Toph stood up quickly. "She didn't seem out of control at all. Not like Zeph. She didn't start attacking until I approached her, and even then it was only directed at me. I didn't even have to do anything but speak to her."

Aang was quiet for a moment. His excitement over not being the last of his people was what had been driving him to search for other Nomads. All the traveling he was doing had started to remind him of the days of the Fire Nation's War. It hadn't occurred to him that trying to find the descendants of a peaceful culture could actually be dangerous. "Well… what do we do?"

"Take her back to her family. I'd rather we not take her, though, she's a danger to us and the others."

"But she's a Nomad! You said so yourself!"

"I know that!" Toph's voice increased in volume slightly. She paused and took a deep breath. "It's your choice, Aang. But if you convince her to come with us, keep one thing in mind." There was a pause, as if to make sure he was listening. "If she turns out to be a threat, I will not hesitate to take her out."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It had taken her some time to locate the house of the Nomad's parents, but she finally found it. Many of the houses in this particular part of town had stables behind them, so it was a little bit more difficult than she had been lead to believe. When she finally arrived, she could see some damage on the roof, several gouges and craters in the street beside the building, and at the door stood an older couple. The man had a dark look on his face that was accented by his black beard, while his wife looked as though she was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Katara approached the house cautiously. "Excuse me. Are you Circe's parents?"

The two seemed to perk up quite a bit. "Yes, we are." The man eyed her critically. "Who are you?"

"My name's Katara. I travel with the Avatar, I used to be his Waterbending teacher."

The couple seemed to study her. "And our daughter?" He asked gruffly.

"Aang and Toph are looking for her now. They should be back soon." Katara relaxed slightly. Circe's father seemed to be a decent person, despite his unnerving appearance. "Toph was able to stop her before anything went out of control."

"Is Circe alright?" The woman finally spoke up. Even though she looked as though she just wanted to sit down and cry, her voice sounded strong and steady.

"I believe she is. I doubt Toph would intentionally hurt her."

The three of them stood silent for a moment. Katara could hear an ostrich-horse baying loudly from behind the house. Faint voices floated up and down the street, curious as to the source of the recent disturbance. "I know this is rather rude, but perhaps we could step inside? I don't want to attract any unwanted attention to your family."

They suddenly appeared to realize where they were standing. "Oh, please forgive us. Come inside." The woman gestured. They led her inside the small house, and Katara closed the door quietly behind them. "I'm just so worried," The woman continued as she wrung her hands. For some reason, it seemed like a very rare thing for her to be doing. "I don't want anything to happen to our daughter."

"My friends will bring her back safely, I promise." Katara tried to sound reassuring as she looked around the room. It was a humble looking place, very clean and organized. "You have a nice home."

"Thank you." The man hobbled over to a chair with his crutch, sitting down and motioning for Katara to do the same. "I am Ronyn, and this is Nasu." His wife managed a slight smile as she sat down in an unoccupied chair. "We're still not sure what's going on. We don't know how Circe is involved in all of this."

"We're worried she'll be taken away from us." Nasu folded her hands in her lap tightly.

"We won't take her away, all of the ones that we have with us came of their own free will." Silence followed Katara's words. She tried to think of something to say that would hopefully calm them down. "Your daughter has an interesting name. I've never heard of one like it before, where does it come from?"

"From whoever her birth parents are." Ronyn sighed. "We wanted to honor her parents, so we didn't change it."

"She isn't your actual daughter?"

"No." Nasu shook her head sadly. "We found her during the war, but couldn't find her parents."

"Do you have any other children?" Katara frowned.

"We do, actually. A son and a daughter, twins. He lives in a small village east of Ba Sing Se, near the coast. She works at the Academy in the capital city." Nasu smiled faintly. "They left soon after the war ended."

"But Circe stayed with you."

Nasu nodded. "She did, and I'm very grateful. She can be hard to handle at times, but I know she means no harm."

Katara smiled, and they again fell quiet. She noticed that they seemed to have calmed down a bit, but the looks in their eyes told her they were still worried. So they sat in silence, listening for any noise that would signal the return of Aang and the others. No sign revealed itself, and the longer they sat, the more anxious the three of them felt.

Just as she was about to speak, however, the ostrich behind their house began to squeal and stomp around, making a nervous braying noise. They stayed still, listening to the animal throw a fit. Suddenly, all three stood and moved straight for the door, eager to get outside. One thing ostriches were good for, besides being beasts of burden, was being an alarm. As they were so skittish, they would make any amount of noise the moment they saw something moving that they failed to recognize, especially if they were confined to a pen.

Ronyn pulled the door open in time to let the women out onto the porch. They spilled out into the street, looking around for any sign of the Avatar. At first nothing could be seen, and Katara began to suspect that a pygmy panther had simply wandered by. But soon enough, she could hear to voices coming from a street at the other side of the house.

"Why is she so heavy? I thought all Nomads were light."

"Keep going, Fancy Pants. You're light because you're constantly Airbending. Can you Bend in your sleep?"

"I'm not constantly Bending…"

"If you're going to lie, the least you could do is try."

Nasu looked at Katara, a questioning look on her face. When the Waterbender nodded, Nasu rushed forward and around the corner of the house, impatient to see how her daughter was. "Circe? Circe, are you alright?" They could hear Toph and Aang speaking with her afterwards, but neither Ronyn nor Katara could hear it clearly enough. Before long, though, Nasu came back out onto the main street, leading Toph and Aang. They carried an unconscious form, and Katara realized with a sinking feeling that it was Circe.

"Toph, what happened to her?" Katara came forward as well, intending to try and help. "I thought you said she was okay!"

"She was." Toph replied. "She picked herself up off the dirt and nearly made it back to the city wall. We found her passed out on the ground."

"Was she hurt?" Nasu took her daughter from them, and Aang looked visibly relieved. "She's not that violent a person, I'm sure you could have just talked to her."

"Believe me, I tried." Toph gestured to the pitted street behind them. "See those craters? That's not Earthbending, you know that. Those are from your daughter, after I tried talking to her. She swung first." She turned and faced the craters, bringing up one foot as she did so. It came down with a thud, sending ripples through the ground and smoothing out the street once more. "I'm going back. You two wrap things up here, and you better not bring her back with you." Toph turned and stomped away without another word.

A stunned silence followed Toph's departure. Only Aang appeared unsurprised by Toph's words. "I'm sorry about what she said." He sounded uncomfortable under the couple's confused and aggravated stares. "I'm not sure she trusts your daughter. She said she looked like she had been in complete control of herself."

Nasu and Ronyn were silent. It was an uncomfortable stretch of time for Aang and Katara, really. There they stood, alone under the piercing looks, Toph had walked off, and the couple before then were holding their bruised and unconscious daughter. Thankfully, Ronyn finally ended the stillness with a surprisingly tired voice. "Thank you for bring Circe back. We'll take care of our daughter from now on." He picked Circe up and turned his wife to the door. The ex-soldier bowed his head as they walked back to the house, though it was obvious that it was hard.

Aang didn't say a word as the couple entered the house. Even when the door was closed and the street was plunged into darkness, he remained quiet. Katara was beginning to think he was actually upset when he finally spoke. "I wish I could have been there sooner. Maybe I could have stopped it, so Toph wouldn't have had to go as far as she did."

"She said that Circe had enough control over herself to actually try to hit her. I think Toph did what had to be done." Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "I don't think she had much of a choice."

"I know." He continued to stare at the closed door. "But I still feel bad."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Over the next few days, the Avatar worked to teach the awakened Nomads to the best of his abilities while Sokka, Katara, and Toph continued to search for any remaining Airbenders. They had yet to find the mysterious son of the smith, much less the smith himself, or any other Nomads for that matter. None of the shops in town had any means to work metal, and no one would tell them where to go. They were simply told that "he lives in the area." It was no surprise when Toph finally gave up out of sheer frustration.

It was a stressful time for Jord as well. Though she was up on her feet within a couple of days after her fight with Toph, the memories just wouldn't leave her alone. She kept feeling the cloudy sensation of being under someone else's control, and swore she could almost hear the voices that spoke in unison. There was guilt, too, of actually helping and agreeing to fight against one of the Avatar's friends. She had been willing to attack Toph for reasons completely unknown. Jord's aggression towards this complete stranger lacked any sort of sense, as nothing had been done to her to instigate it.

So still it bothered her.

She spent most of her time within the safety of her home, often isolating herself inside her bedroom. The ceiling in her room had been repaired, and a new door had been fitted. She rarely went out onto the rooftop, however, and when she did she brought Zin with her. Jord knew something was different… she couldn't see or feel things the way she used to. Everything she had come to find familiar suddenly looked so strange. Her entire world had been turned upside down in a few short hours, and days later all she could do was sit there like an idiot, numb and stupid.

Even her own body seemed to be against her. It refused to let her rest peacefully. Everything hurt for no apparent reason, though the aches and pains seemed to center in her chest. A couple of healers had been called in, but no one could figure out what was wrong. Nasu eventually convinced her to see healers on a regular basis in hopes that a consistent schedule could provide the answers to their questions. However, this only irritated Jord, who often refused to cooperate from the start. By the end of the week, Jord was again refusing help and instead confined herself to her room.

Unfortunately, this did nothing besides increase the building pressure inside her. With no release, Jord was quickly turning into a living time bomb.


End file.
